It was an absolute thrill to go to the dump with my dad.  His truck always smelled like dirt, but when we pulled into the dump, my mind was so fixated on treasure, that I no longer smelled anything.  What wonderful thing could I bring home?

When my husband and I were newly married, we couldn’t afford to buy items for our household, so I would set out rummaging things, looking on roadsides for objects I needed to complete my nest.  I still have a large wooden spool that I painted and made into an end table.  It’s a symbol of possible resourcefulness in my garage, not to mention, a reminder of where we came from.

When you’re very poor, or cheap, you discover such a thing as “found art”.  It’s a cool vibe kind of thing for what other people call “junk”.

My new obsession is a little consignment store I found.  I buy dresses and handbags for under $20.00 and I must say I feel ever so smart for the prizes I have discovered.

Oh, the thrill of the hunt!  In all of these, each and every item I’ve ever found has a story.  A past.  Who used it first?  Where has it been?  It’s cool to think I could salvage something that might otherwise not be put to use.

Jesus was into the recovery of things that might otherwise we lost forever.  In Matthew 13 Jesus was telling stories all day about lost treasure, found pearls, a treasure in a field, yeast rising in bread dough, caught fish, and then as he continues, his story turns to the parable of the farmer who planted seeds in a field. Most of us are familiar with the story, but I’ve always wondered why this story is told in succession with the treasure talk:

“The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’

“He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’

“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’

“He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”

Jesus dismissed the congregation and went into the house.

(I love that Jesus didn’t merely invite His disciples in to hear and understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, but all of us who would read this story are included.  We are privileged to enter into the in-crowd.)

His disciples came in and said, “Explain to us that story of the thistles in the field.”

So he explained….

“The picture of thistles pulled up and burned is a scene from the final act. The Son of Man will send his angels, weed out the thistles from his kingdom, pitch them in the trash, and be done with them. They are going to complain to high heaven, but nobody is going to listen. At the same time, ripe, holy lives will mature and adorn the kingdom of their Father.

“Are you listening to this? Really listening?

“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.

In this passage, Jesus used the word “field” not merely for the church, but for the world. I admit, sometimes we get weary of the thistles in the field, don’t we?  (People who seem to aggravate us, impede development, and generally get in the way.)  I see the entire reach of our lives  as the large field Jesus described.  Like the wheat in this story, we have genuinely good people, in our lives (in our field).  They are those friends and loved ones who are really putting forth effort to become better, who are truly desiring more in life, and  it’s frustrating when we watch that growth take place in the midst of the thistles.  But if we want people to be successful, it’s our job to love them all.  We tend them all. We touch and nurture them all. And we wait. Wheat and thistles together. It’s not our job to weed any of them out.  (Therefore we must refrain from judging those in the field – no matter where we encounter them.)   He is saying, “treasure the wheat, and don’t mind the thistles.” There will come a harvest.

Again this week I was reminded that our job as Christians is to be people of restoration.  Reconciliation.  Renewal.  We follow His example.  There is hope in that. We all enter this process of Christianity with our own history.  Lessons in how we’ve been used before, things we’ve seen and done.  But our God is the great lover of our souls.  He brings value to that which might have been lost forever.  Because of His investment in us, we are salvageable.  He is patient and He has reclaimed us.

So with that hope, we keep looking for the treasure in the people around us, we search for the salvageable, we keep feeding and nurturing, we continue loving, and let God handle the rest.

And then we see!  We understand that it is we who are blessed, because we get to be the ones who unearth the beauty! Then we discover, what the Lord says in Isaiah 45:3,
And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness—secret riches.
I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord,
the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

To know that God calls us by name, and we can trust Him to be faithful to us, means that our efforts are never wasted.  So keep investing in the wheat, and be patient with the thistles.  Treasure will surely come.

Freedom stands at the heart of the Gospel. One day, Jesus stood in the synagogue and asked everyone to unroll their scrolls to Isaiah, and he read: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. Then he boldy, matter-of-factly said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” This is the Jesus-version of FREEDOM! Our Gospel, our good news, is that there is freedom, and it’s already been fought for. It is available to all who choose it. FREEDOM!

Most times, we look at this and think that we are now free from sin, which we are, but that does not encompass the freedom in which we live. Paul wrote to the Galatians and said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free,” and he was not talking about sin. He was writing to people who had already been saved—Paul was there when they accepted the Gospel. He is writing to people who are already Christians and reminding them that Christ has proclaimed freedom. In the case of the Galatians, it was freedom from being obligated to restrictions and to the pressure of others. You can be free from sin, yet not living in the freedom of the gospel.

Christians should proclaim freedom. Our lives should demonstrate freedom. Our gospel must be one of freedom, not just free from sin, but living in freedom. To be honest, when you’re in the midst of sin freedom doesn’t sound all that appealing. For the most part, sinning is fun and feels good (at least for a while and sometimes a long while), so being free from sin may not be the most effective argument for the gospel. Many times, it’s not until we are out of sin that we recognize the effect it was having and would have in our lives. In addition to being free from sin, our lives must demonstrate the freedom from earning God’s favor, the freedom of grace, the freedom from low self-esteem, the freedom from other’s crushing expectations, the freedom from addiction, the freedom from randomness, purposelessness, and mediocrity, and on and on.

It is for freedom that you have been set free. From from what? It’s different for you than it is for me, but I want to bask in it, run in it, enjoy every bit of it. I want people to look at my life and say, “I want to be as free as him,” If people are not shocked, puzzled, and inspired by our freedom perhaps we are missing out on the fullness of the gospel that was proclaimed so many years ago. How are you more free in the kingdom of God than someone who has yet to join the kingdom of God? How is your life, like William Wallace, proclaiming—FREEDOM!?

Maybe she is you.

Last weekend lots of my friends and I had a great time at the Our Time Texas Beach Party where we learned to line dance, had a great meal, and got to take a moment to study up on cowgirl ways.  One very important thing we learned was how big our need is for one another.  We sang the song, “Desperado”.

“Desperado, why don’t you come to your senses?
You been out ridin’ fences for so long now.”

Can’t you hear the melody even now?  What does “out ridin’ fences” mean anyway?  I actually had to look it up!

Out riding fences can be literal or it can be a metaphor. Cowgirls often go out riding fences to ensure livestock don’t stray.  As a metaphor, it’s simply out doing chores nobody particularly likes to do, but it’s part of life and it keeps you out on the range away from people and relationships. It’s kinda comfortable that way.

Let me tell you this: In all the chores of life, we still need each other.  No matter how tedious the job may seem, no matter how busy we get, and no matter how isolated we feel, we need each other.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says,”Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down,
his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!”

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.” (Amp)

Friends are FOR adversity. We need our friends in good times and in bad times.  Through every season of life.  Don’t isolate yourself.  We must learn to make relationships a priority and not let all the “priorities” crowd out what we really need.  We need one another.  We need time with God.  The Bible says that there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother, and that is Jesus Christ.  He is our rock, our refuge when times are crazy and he is waiting for us to take a breath.

I have a friend who is usually busier that I am, but on the night of the first day of school, we both set aside time to go have a pedicure, go to a movie, and dinner.  Wow!  Talk about NICE!  A real girls night out.  It took work to set aside that time for just me and my friend.  But we were able to talk and chat about everything that is important to us and take a breath. I came home refreshed and ready to tackle the needs of my family.

Many of us truly are so overwhelmed by the needs right in front of us, we can’t see beyond them.  It’s important that we have friends who will help lift us up so we can get a better vantage point and look around.  Most of us will not be able to go to India and feed the hungry, but we can make a genuine impact by touching the lives of the people directly in front of us.  That includes our friends.  There should be no guilt in that!  God placed people directly in our path that we are meant to have relationship with. It is not an accident or an imposition.  It is your destiny.

So in the words of our theme song, “you better let somebody love you, before it’s too late.” Don’t be that tired girl in the mirror, too frazzled and isolated for relationships.  Don’t be the desperado.  Take a step, make a plan, do it today.  It’s not too late.

You know, maybe surrender isn’t the best word for what we mean. Well, actually it pretty accurately describes how I have traditionally understood the concept, but I am not sure it accurately conveys the biblical concept. Usually, I have understood that I have desires, habits, dreams, sins, and all that other stuff which are contrary to the desire of God in my life. So I have to surrender all my bad stuff, even though it’s stuff I want to keep. Then there’s the other stuff that’s good, but God sometimes asks you to surrender the good stuff too.

Surrender is a violent term in my head. In other words, I really want to hold onto my stuff-the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I am going to keep holding onto it until God outmaneuvers me, guilts me, or just plain beats me until I give it up. When I don’t have the strength to hold on anymore, I wave the white flag of surrender. “Fine God, you win. Just take it.” It’s probably more God taking than me surrendering.

That’s the problem. In surrender, I have focused on all the stuff I am losing. It’s painful and hard. I struggle to give up my stuff.

However, I don’t think that’s what God intended at all. God isn’t about surrender, as much as He is about exchange. God invites us to surrender so that He can give something even better. That’s the glory of surrender. When we choose to surrender, God then glorifies Himself in us, and, in glorifying Himself, He glorifies us. Keeping our stuff, choosing our own glory, is no glory at all. God invites us to surrender, and in exchange for good, bad, and ugly stuff God gives us His glory through us.

Sure, Jesus told the rich, young ruler to surrender all his stuff, but he was offering eternal life in exchange. Yes, God asked Jesus for his life, given in violent crucifixion, but it was in exchange for surpassing glory, eternal life, and life passed on to others. Ok, God asks for my sin (which I usually happen to like) in exchange for habits, patterns, and thoughts that won’t destroy me. Yeah, God asks for my dreams that would make my story grand in exchange for playing a role in his grand story.

When Jesus was struggling with surrender, he recognized that when he surrendered he would gain the glory of God, and he proclaimed, “Father, glorify Your Name.” There is life and joy in surrender, so, Father, I willingly, excitedly, and joyfully exchange my stuff for yours. Father, glorify Your Name.

Life is not certain or easy. We all have battles to fight in one way or another, and we all have big lives to live.  I don’t know what battle you might be facing today, but I do know our God will sustain you.  He is strong and able and completely loving in all His ways.  Sustaining us is not just something He does, it is who He is.  It’s not hard for Him.  Our toughest battles are not difficult for Him.

Psalm 18:35 says, “You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.”

Psalm 119:116 says, “Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.”

He cares about our position, He cares about our hopes, and He cares about every aspect of the durability of our lives.

This month, since I’ve been putting my own spin on the environment, I wanted to look at the concept of sustainability.  Within the environmental community, sustainability is the capacity to endure.  We judge a product’s ability to be sustained by whether or not there is ready access to more.

The dictionary says that sustain means: –verb (used with object)

1. to support, hold, or bear up from below; bear the weight of, as a structure.

2. to bear (a burden, charge, etc.).

3. to undergo, experience, or suffer (injury, loss, etc.); endure without giving way or yielding.

I like that last one: “to endure without giving way or yielding”.  I want my life to be marked by the ability to not give way to forces around me. I also want ready access to more.  Don’t we all?  I want more from my time here, more of God in my life, more of His presence, and more usability from me as His servant.  To me, it comes down to making daily choices that promote longevity.  A lifelong love relationship with others and with God requires me to make some things a priority while letting other things go.

Yes, we face battles, but we must understand we cannot sustain a life of fighting forever.  In order for my existence to be sustained, I must learn the art of rest.  I must learn to obey the Sabbath.  I must rely on Jesus to replenish my soul as often as possible. Choosing a sustainable life means I ask tough questions of my own heart. Is my mind stayed on Him?  Am I replenishing myself so that I’ll have more to pour out into others lives later?  Am I being pressured by what others think of me or am I listening to what God is speaking to me? Will the character I have worked so hard on stand the test of time?  Have I invested wisely in relationships so that they have what it takes to make it for the long haul?

Christians are actually called to endure quite a few things according to scripture. We are to endure hardship, persecution, suffering, trials, and “everything”.  Endure “everything”?  That’s what it says in 2 Timothy 2:10.  “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”

What does “everything” include?   Does it include the good stuff?  Good stuff like taking time to see the beauty in your life, to enjoy and reflect upon God’s magnitude in creation, to relish in the joy of family, without feeling guilty for stepping away to do so is something I’m learning to aim for. Enduring the good?  What a concept.  What a worthy goal.  Truly, how many people do you know, that have tenacity to remain close to God during hard times but when life is good, they cut and run?  Can we endure the good and stay close to God just as we learn to endure the difficult?

I am discovering the contentment of knowing there are some things that endure forever. God’s love, His name, His word, His righteousness, and His Kingdom are some of the things that the Bible tells us, will endure. In a world of change, these are the things we can stand on that we know will last forever!  Unchangeable, immovable, incorruptible, perfect ways of God are a comfort that we can hold on to.

God’s ways are perfect even when we can’t figure them out.  Maybe that is part of the beauty of God’s enormity.  We can’t completely figure Him out. However, we can trust Him.  He can rely on the fact that He is ready to sustain us.  Now and forever!  Today I will give Him glory and honor and praise because He has sustained me in the past and I can trust that He will continue to sustain me in the future.

Jude 1:24-25 says, “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

No matter how you choose to define sustainability, it is clear that we are created to last.  The story of our life is meant to remain long after we stop breathing.  We must make choices that lead us to longevity and know that God is able to sustain our lives through good times, through bad times, through work, through rest, everyday, now and forever, into eternity.

The Our Time Texas Beach Party is coming up and I hope you will join me! August 20th at 6:00 PM in the main Worship Center at Capital Christian Center. Line Dancing, TexMex BarBQ, barrel racing, and an inspiring message are just some of the things in store for us that night. Tickets are on sale now for just $15.00 per person.

If you have little ones, don’t forget to register them and buy their tickets too. They will be having their own party – dinner included – for just $5.00 per child.

I love these times when us girls get together. It’s a chance for us to see our old friends, but it’s also an opportunity to invite new friends to the party. We as women need each other, and we are stronger together than we are on our own. We are learning to ride hard after the plans God has for us and when we get knocked off the horse, we cowgirl up and get moving again! No matter what position you find yourself in, come on down to the Texas Beach Party on August 20th, bring your friends, and get ready for a great time!

Visit our page Our Time Women for the latest pictures and updates!

I have finished reading a book by Wayne Cordeiro, titled Leading On Empty, and it has really helped my perspective on the importance of rest. I’ve heard it for over 25 years of ministry, that if I’m going to continue for the long haul, I need to take care of myself. I just never really knew what that meant.

So I’ve been figuring it out- it’s important to conserve strength, conserve sanity, conserve issues of priorities. Yep, I get it.

The funny thing is, my thoughts are continually turning to areas of necessary non-conservation. There are some things I refuse to conserve.

I have known people who grew up during the depression era, therefore they take great pains in saving everything. You know them too, they keep it all- from plastic ziplock baggies, to bread bag ties, to gas to food. I can understand. However, some of these same people conserve when it comes to love, to family, to friends, and to God, as well.

I am determined- I will not do it!

One day I was considering my seeming stubborn attitude and asked the question, “well, I don’t want to be wasteful. Is this attitude wasteful?”

I was instantly reminded of the woman who made her way to the feet of Jesus, and in her condition of thankfulness and gratefullness, she poured out her love for her Saviour in the action of breaking an alabaster box containing very costly, expensive oil and pouring it all over His feet.
The onlookers criticized: this woman is wasting what would be a whole year’s salary! Think what could be done with this money! And here she is, just spilling it out.
Jesus replied, “leave her alone! She has done something wonderful, admireable, and will be remembered forever!”

Will my love being poured out, be remembered forever? See, there are just some areas I want to refuse conservation. I want to pour out my love in worship to my King. I want to never be guilty of withholding love and encouragement from my loved ones. When I think something kind and lovely toward my friends I want to pour it out on them.

Do we really think that if we keep those things in reserve it will keep us from becoming empty? Will we not run dry if we hold on to everything? How is it possible that the opposite occurs? The more you pour out, the more you give, the more you are re-filled?! It’s another one of those God-things that calls upon faith for us to comprehend.

Luke 6:38 says, “…give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back- given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity,”

Oh man, I want to be generous. I want to be found pouring it out, not holding on tight. With my heart, my words, my hands. I will not conserve those things. Will you?

As temporary residents of planet earth, most of us realize the importance of being good stewards of what we will eventually pass on to future generations.

So we make healthy choices, like reducing the things we waste, like recycling, like reusing items we would’ve discarded in the past. We do these things because we understand our environment is fragile.

The dictionary defines the environment as, “the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions or influences; the social and cultural forces that shape the life of a person or population.”

I like that one, “forces that shape us”.

Our goal, since we began Our Time, has been to create an environment where women can discover their God-given potential and destiny. We create an atmosphere that will encourage and nurture the value of women.

We know how important it is to get in an environment that allows for a change of perspective. We all face challenges in our lives, but if we don’t occassionally stand back and see from a different vantage point, we remain stuck where we are. So here are a few environmental discoveries I have made that might help you.

Creating your environment:

Individually, I believe each of us is responsible for the environment we allow in our lives. God has given us freedom and creativity to breathe into our personal space (what happens in our minds, expressions on our faces, our positive outlook). We need to be vigilant and ever mindful of the atmosphere we are creating and absorbing.

Protecting your environment:

To protect our environment means a lot of things to me- it means we strive for peace. Peace in our workplace, in our home, in our school and in our church.

It means we plan ahead, to avoid last minute panics in our day that disrupt the calm.

We protect our environment by filling our space with wonderful music that evokes worship and adoration of God throughout our day.

It means we choose to not allow people to take up residence in our atmosphere who are consistently trying to tear down with negativity and conflict.

We protect our environment by filling it with words of blessing and faith and kindness.

Save your environment:

To save the environment brings another dimension to this concept. To save something implies it is in jeopardy of being lost. It brings to mind places like the Gulf of Mexico where that enormous oil leak is threatening their way of life. It’s wreaking havoc on the population as they hopelessly watch their waters be contaminated with black slimy goo, their marshlands shrink, wildlife suffer and their fishing industry become non existent. Big problems require big answers. Sometimes the ‘little people’ feel helpless while they wait for someone else who is bigger than they are, to save the environment.

We walk into situations of desperation and potential loss all the time. Hopeless environments where marriages are at stake, health scares in stark hospital rooms, and businesses at risk.

I believe we are not simply called to create and protect our environments, but to save them! We are here to bring answers, to be the salt and light to our world.

Mt 5:13,16 says, “Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? …by opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up to God”

We don’t have to have all the answers to the environmental catastrophys we step in to, but we are called to introduce those involved to the ONE who is the answer. If we don’t flavor the atmosphere with the kindness of God, and show them how big He is, they may never know they should look for more of Him.

After all these analagies typed on my little iPhone keypad, it really comes down to a message that’s quite simple.
In our lives, we must stop looking at ourselves as victims to what’s going on in the atmosphere around us and choose instead to create, protect and save the environment we are in.

When we are worried, we easily find ourselves wishing for things to be different. We dwell on the ‘if only’s’ and ‘what if’s’ so readily. When troubles arise, we spend hours stewing over the possibilities in our minds. We worry about scenarios, we hope to see changes, we imagine things going one way or another.

As prone as I’ve always been to do it, I know the curious thing about worries and wishes is, even after I’ve invested so much time in them, I realize they have gotten me nowhere.

I have several friends right now who are in different stages of cancer diagnosis. The wait seems excruciating. The testing, followed by delay and interruption are a breeding ground for consuming worries, wishes and thoughts to take over the mind.

Last week, after a night of being awakened to pray for my friend, when morning came I checked Facebook, and I realized the friend for whom I had been worrying and praying was already ahead of me. She said, “There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” (Epictetus)

I believe God wants to see us go from the point of wishes, worries, and hopes to a place of faith. But getting there is sometimes tough. When we shift from wishing to believing and having faith, it requires action. (Whereas, wishing requires nothing but time.) I have grown to understand that faith usually requires action. Faith often engages the power of our will. I believe God calls us to be authentic and real in our walk with Him. He doesn’t want us to be some fake, pie-in-the-sky kind of people. He gives us practical tools to put to work in our lives.

What are some of the tools that will help us become people of faith? Romans 10:17 says, “…faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” The first thing we should do when we are drawn to worrying and wishing, is to fill up our minds with God’s Word. Read it, listen to it, and apply it as often as possible.

The second tool we can use to become a person of faith is to remember to be thankful. Hebrews 12:28 says, “Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God.” Setting our minds on all we have to be grateful for changes not just our thought process, but also moves our hearts toward God and toward people. We can make a journal of all the things we can be thankful for. We can tell the people we love how much they mean to us. We can thank God for His blessings in our lives.

Thirdly, another tool is to take a practical look at our reality and pinpoint the areas we need to change by making a list. I know it sounds elementary, but we tend to make it easier to deny what we don’t have written down. Eleanor Roosevelt said,
”It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”

Habakkuk 2:2 says, “…Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.” Once we get it in writing, we can ask God to help us find creative solutions and to take steps that will put change in motion in our reality.

The fourth tool is to make a simple new habit out of prayer. By not getting on the phone with our friends, but having a conversation with our Creator instead. He already knows all about our wishes, He has our worries all figured out and He knows the answers. So why not go to the source? Talk to Him!

Wishing can be the propellant to move us toward hope and eventually toward having faith to pray and believe God for more, so I’m not saying that wishing is wrong. I am saying if spending our days wishing robs us of valuable time that we could be investing in an actual plan for growth and change, then we are allowing wishing to sabotage us.

I remember riding bicycles a lot when I was a kid, out in the country on dusty dirty roads. In Oregon, in particular, where it rains a lot, ruts would begin to be developed in the road, where patterns of tires would be etched down into the dirt, and those ruts would get deeper and deeper through time. Our pattern of thought becomes just like tires in the rut of the old dirt road. We need to pick up our wheels, get out of the dirt, and find a fresh path.

If we want to accomplish the life God has planned for us, we need to take measurable steps toward it, and not spend our lives in wild imaginations. Washington Irving said,”Great minds have purposes; others have wishes.” Never forget that you and I were created to have and to live with purpose. If wishing gets you started on your path toward purpose, then wish away; I’m just saying don’t get stuck in the rut. Let your worries and wishes turn to hope, your hope to faith, and your faith to action.