One of my favorite verses comes from 2 Corinthians 3:18 as it says, “And we all, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  It gets me all sorts of excited when I think about these words that teach us that we are being transformed into His likeness.  I love that it’s not a past tense or a future tense, but a present- are being transformed.  There’s something so encouraging, so challenging and so exciting about this. 

I love this truth so much that I decided to make it my anthem and my goal for this year- to pursue transformation.  In the beginning of January I made this proclamation and explained five different ways that I want to grow- to be able to look back and pinpoint that I have been transformed more into His likeness.  Being that we are now halfway through the year (what?!?!), I want to revisit my goals and see how I'm doing.   

Transformation isn’t like the lovely crockpot that is brewing up my habenero beef tostadas for dinner tonight, with the “set it and forget it” mentality.  Instead it's a challenging sometimes gut-wrenching process that needs to be monitored, prodded, encouraged and pursued with each and every step.  Just like toning up those biceps in the gym, it takes intentionality and follow-through (but it's so rewarding!).  So, for the next few weeks I am going to touch base with each of my growth areas, not just for me to see where I’m at, but to hopefully encourage you to keep challenging yourself in the areas you’d like to grow as well. 

My first goal was “Above all else, I want to give myself more to the Lord – to be transformed into a better reflection of Him.  To dig deeper into His word and come out knowing more about Him and understanding how I can be a better communicator of His love.”    

This is the most important one on my list and there is always much, much room for improvement here.  I have made definite progress in giving myself more to Him by giving Him my dreams.  Making this choice day in and day out has been so rewarding, giving me great joy and more freedom as I give Him the power to guide me.  On the other hand, I have not been as successful in my efforts at digging deeper into His word.  I seriously don't know what the catch is there- it’s not a difficult thing.  I love to read, I’m all about words (clearly), but for whatever reason I am still terrible at daily Bible reading!!! It’s SO SIMPLE. Insert angry/annoyed emoticon.  There’s no excuse.  I need to start… today.  I am going to start by reading a Psalm a day (encouraged by our pastor Matt in church this Sunday) to build a habit of being in the word.  Once I build that habit back up a little bit, I’d like to add another book of the Bible in the mix- maybe one I haven’t spent much time in before, like Daniel or something.  For some reason I feel in the mood to be in the Old Testament; any suggestions of a favorite book to dig into?

I have a really hopeful expectation for this year, and I really do want be able to look back and see growth.  God created us to be reflections of His glory, but we need to do our part – by His power, let’s be transformed. 

Want to join me in this? I’d love to hear how your pursuit for transformation in 2015 is happening- please share with me!  If you’re a fellow blogger we could even start a link up! Let’s be transformational ya’ll! 

When was the last time you were driving down the road, your jam came on, and you had no choice but to crank up the music and wholeheartedly belt out the lyrics with an occasional raised hand or a fist pump?  You’re jamming out so strongly, with no restraint knowing that everyone who passes you can’t help but laugh at the sight of you giving it your best Kelly Clarkson.  Yeah, you know the feeling.  That is my favorite.  I love when I am so obsessed with a song that I want to sing it out so loud, so strong that at the end I’m breathless.  

There is something so powerful about music.  It’s motivating, lifts your spirits, and most often gets your body moving.  But one of my favorite things about music is when it inspires.   Being a writer, it’s probably pretty evident that words are important to me.  They have power, they speak for us when we can’t find the voice, they share emotion, they evict love, they proclaim truth- they’re just good.  So when you partner a beautiful melody with strong words that speak to the heart- that’s when I love music the most. 

The scenario I described at the beginning of this post? Yeah… that was totally me this Tuesday.  I was on the two hour drive up to our family cabin and I was jamming out.  A hand was being raised, my head was bobbing, eyes were closing here and there (quickly and carefully of course- I mean, I was driving) – it was pretty epic.   Not too long ago, I discovered an artist named Lauren Daigle who has an Adele-like voice combined with some truth-speaking, Jesus loving, God seeking lyrics.  I am pretty obsessed with her.  (If you haven’t heard of her, check her out- you will not regret it, and you’ll probably thank me.)  The song that keeps finding itself on repeat, the reason that I felt inspired to write this post, and the cause of my jam-session is called Trust in You.  With lyrics all about giving our dreams to the Lord, recognizing that His ways are better than mine, and with a full breathed declaration to trust in Him even when things aren’t going as we hoped – it seriously speaks to my heart.  

I have very high hopes for this summer in regards to reaching for my dreams.  I feel a pressure on my soul to be intentional about what feels to be my calling as a writer, but the fear that tries to grip me is wanting to be certain that this isn’t just my dream, my hope for my life, but that it is indeed His call for me.  Being able to listen to a song that so clearly, and so profoundly describes the desires of my heart is so liberating and pushes me to make my trust in Him an outcry of my mouth and a declaration of my heart.  

Singing the words, “Letting go of every single dream, I lay each one down at your feet… Truth is you know what tomorrow brings, there’s not a day ahead you have not seen” and then joining in the anthem cried out in the chorus where it says, “When you don’t move the mountains I needed you to move, when you don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through, When you don’t give the answers as I cry out to you, I will trust, I will Trust, I will Trust in you!” I know that the Lord is using Lauren’s beautiful voice and powerful lyrics to inspire and encourage me to over and over again give it all to Him. 

I am so thankful that there is power in words.  That God himself uses words to speak to us through the Bible - and that He reaches out to us through His Spirit to lay the truth that we so need to hear on our hearts.  And I’m thankful that God created Lauren and her beautiful voice. 

So if you drive past me in the near future and it looks like I’m embarrassingly in the zone, don’t worry, I'm most likely singing Trust in You. :)   If you need a new jam with words that speak truth to your heart and give glory to God, I highly recommend checking out Lauren Daigle's cd How Can it Be.  Then we can both be the crazies on the road turning up the music and pumping our fists- but better yet we can join together in giving our dreams to Him. 

xo

Waking up this morning, the heaviness of my worries, my fears, my hopes, my to-do list, came crashing onto my heart like a 10-foot wave.  Sitting on the edge of my bed having such strong desires to accomplish much, I felt stuck.  30 minutes went by as I paged through my Facebook and Instagram feeds as I avoided putting my feet on the ground and figuring out how to start my day.  Dragging myself out of bed, I grabbed my cup of coffee and sat myself in front of my computer hoping that words would come bringing clarity with each letter typed onto my screen.  Writing out a few paragraphs for what I hoped would be a June Goal and update post, my fingers seemed forced and my words felt dry.  Taking a deep breath and fighting off the frustration that ensued, I started a new page and began to speak to the Lord.  Words flowed off my fingers as I talked with him about my heart, the heavy feeling of this day, my hopes and dreams, and the struggles that I feel in finding the right way to move forward.  Closing my eyes and pouring out my heart to Him, His words came to my heart like a much needed deep breath.  It’s all about Me.  Suddenly it clicked and a realization swept in that yet again, my focus was displaced… 

Throughout the years God has taught me time and time again how important it is to understand that this life I live is and must be all about Him.  He loves me so much that He sacrificed His son to the cross, just so that I might be freed from sin and build a relationship with Him. He, this awesome God, who has the power to move mountains and part the seas, so selflessly gave up His son for Me (and for you!).  And that’s not where His love ends.  He knows my heart, all of it, the good and the bad, and He still wants me to get to know Him and be a part of what He is doing on this earth.   Learning this lesson and shifting my perspective to the understanding that I want to be a part of what He’s doing, that I want my life to be about Him is something I know to be true in my heart, and yet it’s as if it hasn’t quite stuck because every single day, I get distracted, lose my focus and need to re-center on Him.  

Wanting so badly to pursue the dreams that the Lord has placed in my heart, I’ve gotten so caught up in the steps I am trying to take, the “how am I going to get this dream off the ground?”, thoughts about which designer I might use to help me create a logo and brand that best represents what I hope to be as a writer, where I am going to submit an article to, fears of how I could possibly one day become what I hope to be- that I’ve become overwhelmed and lost sight of why I want to do it all in the first place. 

The reason I write, the reason I want to be a writer is not about me.  I write because of the Lord.  I write because it helps me connect with Him and process what He’s teaching me.  And I write because I believe he’s given me a voice to share and a call to encourage. 

Reconnecting with the why, it’s as if the weight of the how and the when and the next step of what to do if I want to be a writer has fallen off my shoulders.  The desire is still here, the questions are still here, but with Him the weight, the heaviness, the burden, has been lifted away.  

I need to be reminded of this lesson every. single. day.  To be challenged to submit my desires, hopes, dreams, fears into His hands knowing that He is faithful and that his mercies really are new every single morning. 

Praying that you, too, would sink into His love and trust in His faithfulness. And that the words of Lamentations 3:22-23 would wash over your heart.  “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

XO

Mindy

-- image by Roost Photography -- 

Last week I got a real, scary taste of motherhood.  Before the rumors start circulating, No, I’m not pregnant (unlike everyone else and their mom who seems to have drank the same baby-making water).  Go ahead and call me crazy cat lady, but my scary taste of motherhood has to do with being a kitty mama. Let’s be real, Finn is my baby.  I can already picture my sister reading this and rolling her eyes or faking a “puke in my hands” sort of motion- but really, he is!  We adopted him a year and a half ago and he instantly became a big part of our little family.  He cuddles with me when Chris is busy at work, he greets me at the door (he’s part dog), he brings joy when his tail gets all puffy because I caught him off guard when I came around the corner,  or the way he chases his favorite purple ball and meows when he wants to be picked up- he’s my little furr baby!     

Coming home from bible study last Wednesday with no greeting at the door, and walking in to find him in his bed unable to fully open his eyes or walk without slumping over- I knew something was wrong and I was terrified.  Having just taken him into the vet earlier that day noticing that he was walking a little funny and having been told that it was just an injury from playing too hard (don’t even get me started on the misdiagnosis that plays into this whole scenario), I was completely caught off guard as this shouldn’t have been happening.  Chris walked in the door just a few minutes later (praise God) and found me holding our limp kitty with eyes that couldn’t focus and legs that couldn’t support him.  Trying not to panic, we loaded him into the car and rushed off to the Animal Hospital.    

The vet quickly went into “go mode” telling us that he had a urinary blockage and if he didn’t act fast and determine how bad the situation was, it could become quite serious.  Suddenly I was handed a document with words like “do not resuscitate” or “take any action required” and as soon as it landed in my hand, Chris snatched it out of my hand because he knew I could not handle this.  Tears instantly poured down my face, okay that’s an understatement- I went into sloppy tears and quick, short breath cry-mode, with a very sad attempt to keep it together, as I faced the unfortunate reality that there was a chance I might be going home without a kitty.

Getting home at midnight and waiting anxiously for the vet to call and give us good news, I jokingly said to Chris, “welp, looks like we’re never having kids.”  I was a hot mess.  When the phone rang an hour and a half later, we took a deep breath and prepared ourselves for who knows what news we were about to receive.  As soon as the words “everything went really well” and “this is the best scenario that it could be” came out of the vet’s mouth, tears of joy ran down my cheeks and peace overwhelmed my anxious heart.  

Praise the Lord I can say that God provided for us, and with much thanks to the amazing ER doctor, he saved our kitty.  After staying in the hospital for a few days with a catheter and IV, the staff treated his infection and got him ready to go home with us.  Now having him home for a few days and watching him recover and return to his peppy, loving self, still with a bit of crazy cat mom worries and “is he okay Chris?” moments, I am so so thankful for the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in this situation. 

I cannot believe how much I learned in the past 7 days.  Not only did I realize how much I love this little creature, but it gave me an insanely real taste for motherhood and a brand new appreciation for parents.  I mean shoot, I can’t even imagine how much of a mess I would be had this been my child?!  Although I was joking when I said, “and now we’re never having kids” – there’s an element of truth that exists in that statement because if I’m being super honest- being a mom terrifies me.  Lord willing, I feel like being a mom is part of my future, but it is going to take an army of prayer warriors, and a giant leap of faith and increase in trust in the Lord to make me ready.

I am a born and raised worry wart- I struggle with anxiety, I struggle with giving my fears to the Lord- it’s something I work on daily, have learned a TON about, but still need to constantly give over to the Lord.  I have learned time and time again that His faithfulness is evident in even the most seemingly insignificant situations; but, I still need to be continually reminded that with every step of my life, whether with kitties or kiddies, my trust MUST be placed in Him in order for me to move forward. 

Although this situation was terrifying, and I don’t care to repeat it, I can wholly say that God’s word is true when it says that He uses every situation for our good.  I’ve mentioned to a few people, usually somewhat kidding, that Finn is good prep for having kids someday; but really, there is no joke about it.  Raising this kitty, loving him through his issues as a kitten and this health scare, I have already learned so much about what is going to be required of me when I become a mother.  I am so so thankful that God uses even the most obscure situations to teach us, to shape us, to transform us, and to love us into trusting Him more and more.   

God is so good.  He really does deserve so much praise- so thank you Lord for loving me, for saving me, and for my sweet sweet kitty!

Praying that wherever you’re at, whether you’ve got a crazy situation on your hands or you’re resting peacefully in the goodness that God has given you, that you can give him more and more of your Trust.  He’s so good- He deserves it. 

Xo

I'm currently snuggled under the covers fighting the urge to let my head hit the pillow as my kitty is curled up by my feet and rain drops coat the window.  There's nothing quite like crawling into a cozy bed when the weather is gloomy and a chill is in the air.  The weather in May is always a guessing game in Wisconsin.  There have been years where it snows, and others where Memorial Day is a full day of sunshine and boating on the lake.  Today I am not complaining about the weather taking a bit of a dip into the 40's, because May has been off to a great start.  This past weekend was absoutely beautiful!  It was amazing to pull out shorts and a tank top and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin in my own front yard.  Of course we had to take full advantage and spend most of the weekend outside, grilling and soaking up every bit of warmth possible.

Much like I tried to do this weekend, I've decided that my goal for May is to soak it up.  I feel like every time I write, I battle the desire to say, "man, time flies!" because seriously... it does.  When it gets closer to the summer months I feel like time starts to go even faster, as weekends rapidly fill up with weddings, trips to the cabin, and all sorts of get-togethers as everyone is finally coming out of their houses from the winter hibernation.  Thinking ahead through this month, and even into June I started to feel anxiety bubble up in my gut as I thought about how quickly the summer is going to fill up and race by.  As quick as the anxiety rose up, I squashed it.  I stopped myself from letting those thoughts run any further and decided that the best thing I can do to slow time down, is to savor each moment.  I want to take full advantage of the days that the Lord has blessed me with and be intentional about taking moments where instead of getting lost in the chaos, I take a look around me and praise God for what He's provided.

With this goal in mind- I thought I'd share a few ways that I plan on embracing this goal to soak it up.

1 – Don’t play the comparison game.  I keep catching myself looking at my lawn and lack of landscaping and feeling like the loser on the block.  Since this is not my area of expertise, reshaping and improving the curb appeal of our yard has been so slow in coming.  It is really hard not to look down the block and feel envy for how beautiful others' yards are.  I need to work on lowering my comparison and upping my praise for what I’ve been given- and knowing that these things take time!  

2 – Take time to just be.   Especially if an upcoming week is jam-packed, I need to create space to just sit out on the porch and enjoy a cup of coffee (or champagne) and praise God for the breath in my lungs.

3 – Exercise my “No”.  It’s so easy to fill up every spare minute in the day, the week, or the month.  I need to remind myself it’s okay to say "No" every once in awhile and take time for myself and for my husband.

4 – Get outside.  A little sun on the skin, does SO much good for my soul.  I need to remember this when the laundry is calling and the stress is piling.  Taking a few minutes to head outside, take a breather, and thank God for the sun might be just what I need to manage my time and get what I need to done (or learn what can be put aside for later).

5 – Celebrate.   The Lord doesn’t want us to just float through life, He wants us to be full of joy and embrace what He has given us.  So, I want to be intentional about celebrating those moments.  My big 29 is coming up in a few days, Mother’s day is just around the corner, and before we know it Memorial day will be upon us. Each of these create great opportunities to exercise my celebration muscles this month.  I am praying that each is full of joy and laughter!!!

I know that these goals are a bit more abstract, but I am hoping that I can make tangible, practical steps in making each of these happen.  Who knows, maybe I'll start this afternoon by taking time to just be- following Finn's example, and taking a little cat nap.  

Praying that you, too, can look at this month with joy in your heart and intentionality to soak up every minute.  

xo

The other night, I was in search of an old blog post that I'd written and ended up spending a good chunk of time reading through my blog archive.  Looking at all my old posts, I realized that for some reason as time has gone on, I've started writing less?  It didn't make much sense to me at first because as I think about the growth of my online space, my passion for it has only gotten bigger.  After some thought, I figured out that for who knows what reason, something shifted and deciding what to write about became a bigger deal.  I'd hem and haw over different ideas, rule them out, and consider it a writer's block.  I started to get so picky that by the time I sat down to write something, I'd used up all the time I had to write by brainstorming and changing my mind.

It's like when I decide I want to paint my nails.  I'll pull out a few colors that look fun and try to narrow down my choices.  I'll land on a color and then think, oh wait, I have such and such event later this week that might require me to pink instead of lavender.  Hmm is that one too much of a fall color?  Should I put sparkles on all of my fingers or just my ring-finger for a party nail?  And then all of a sudden it's 10:30 at night, I have to get ready for bed which means I can't paint my nails because how can you wash your face with wet nails?  I mean, man, the struggle is real.

I think that's what has happened with my writing.  I became too concerned about choosing a good topic and writing something that has significance, that I didn't end up writing anything at all.  I had somehow started to put too much pressure on myself to make sure I was writing something that people would resonate with, instead of simply writing what the Lord was laying on my heart that day.  As much as I don't want to admit it, I found myself motivated or discouraged about a certain post based on how many views it received.

But here's the thing.  I didn't start this blog to get viewers, I didn't make the shift to be a writer's blog because people told me that's what they thought would be good.  I did this simply because I wanted to use the gifts the Lord has given me and make His name known.  Unfortunately I got distracted from that truth and as a result my writing lost it's freedom.  I got too caught up in what message I thought should be conveyed, when really He is the only one who gives my writing significance.  I believe that life is all about Him, that we are here to glorify Him and make his name known, and I want this little space to be a reflection of that.

And here's the last piece (and quite an important one) of what I think was different.  Going through the posts from one of the years where I wrote a bit more, I realized just how many came as an outpouring of my time reading the Bible.... Now that is humbling and convicting and motivating all at the same time.  If I want to write His words, I need to be in His word.

So that's it.  That's what I need to do.  Get back into His word daily, remind myself why I write, stop overthinking what I'm going to write about and just sit myself down in front of my computer, and write my little heart out.

I'm so glad that I came to this realization.  I can already feel the fun and freedom in writing returning.  Woohoo!  Thank you Lord :)

xo

-- image by Marissa Maharaj --

Grabbing a bench top, risers, a bar, and weights, I situated myself towards the front of the workout room guaranteeing a clear view of the instructor.  I "loaded" up my bar with an appropriately small amount of weight as I haven't been to this class in quite awhile, and prepared to feel the burn.   If you've never been to body pump, it's a weightlifting class choreographed to music with tons and tons of reps.  From squats to lunges, to dead lifts, to clean-and-presses and bicep curls- your entire body is challenged in a 45-60 minute, energy-packed class.   Having been a regular to body pump in the past, I knew that I would walk away from class feeling sweaty with tired muscles.  But what I didn't expect, was to leave feeling encouraged and challenged about how simple it is to be the gospel.

Putting my bar in set position, I rolled my shoulders back and got started as the instructor led us through the first set.  Getting lost in the flow of the class, I zoned out to the rhythm of the music and sank low over my heels to get this booty ready for the beach (hah).  A few songs in, I realized that this wasn't just any ordinary body pump class.  Instead of the top 40's "my anaconda don't want some" beats pushing us to get lower and really push ourselves, this playlist was different.  This playlist proclaimed the name of Christ.

I'm not going to lie, this threw me off a bit.  But in a good way.  I immediately started thinking- oh man, this guy must be a Christian right?  Am I the only one who recognizes these songs?  Is he allowed to do this- no one else has ever done this? Is that DC talk?  A little body pump AND Jesus? This is so great!  I couldn't help but get pumped up and want to jump around a bit as a catchy beat poured out of the speakers with these lyrics,  "You are my freedom.  We lift you higher.  You are alive in us, nothing can take your place.  You are all we need, your love has set us free." Jamming out to this playlist, I got to thinking about how simply the instructor had made his faith known.

As believers, it's so easy to get caught up in the idea that making an impact for Christ is all about how many lives you've changed, about how many "will you accept Jesus" conversations you've had, or how many times you've told the gospel story.  Yes, God's ultimate plan is that all people will know Him and sharing His story is a big part of that, but the truth is, it's much more than that.  In addition to telling His story, He calls us to be the gospel.  In Acts 1:8 Jesus says to his disciples, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  Notice how he doesn't say "and you will witness, you'll go tell my story, talk to lots of people about what I did in Jerusalem" - instead he says, "you will be my witnesses."  Jesus' focus is not about all the words He wants His disciples to say, but about how they are to be the representation of who He is.

Being the gospel made simple is making Jesus' name known through the way we live our lives, not just through the ways we share the story of what He's done.  It's meeting people where they're at and loving them with the love of Jesus.

The instructor of my body pump class didn't use any words to make the name of Jesus known in the workout room.  Instead of saying "hey guys, my name is Andy, I'm a Christian - here's the gospel story and here's what I think you should do with it," he created a playlist with songs that spoke the name of Jesus, of the freedom found in Christ, and of the love of God.  The songs that he chose, the way he led the class, how he made sure to know every person's name in the room, the words that he chose to motivate us to not quit, and the joy that he brought to the workout- those are the ways he made being the gospel simple.

I may not have a venue like the YMCA where I can lead 15+ people with some sweet Christian jams, but I have the choice to establish meaningful contact with my community.  A choice to be His witness- to see each moment as an opportunity to bring the kingdom of God to places where He might not yet be known.

As you go about your day, I want to challenge you to join me in thinking about how you can bring light into the darkness that so often encompasses our world.  Think about all the people you interact with in a week and show them a little love.  Bring joy to the cashier at the grocery store who just got yelled at by the last customer for bagging her eggs with the bread, bring flowers to your dry cleaning lady who always asks how your day is going and sincerely wants to know the answer, call up a friend who you know is struggling and really listen.   Being the gospel can be so simple.  So let's do it- let's be a little more like Andy and brighten this place up a bit.