With boldness.

I just read the following passage in Hebrews and I'd like to share it here for anyone that might need to know how approachable God really is:

Hebrews 4:12-16 says, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

That is a lot of information to take in; so much to digest from God in that passage. That scripture has always been a favorite of mine, that the Word is literally alive. As I speak the Word of God over my life, God begins to activate it over me! When my faith is down, if I will simply crack open the Word and just begin to read, the Word cannot help but activate. My faith cannot help but rise. It's the only thing that can happen.

So not only does the Word encourage us, lift our faith and inspire us to continue on in this journey, but the Word will search our hearts. Nothing is hidden from God. Not anything we say, not anything we do, not anything we think, not anything. NO THING is hidden from God. He see's it all. He knows it all.

Now, if a person here on Earth knew all that God knows about me, I'd be scared. Because I fail. A lot. But honestly, it does not scare me that God has that place in my life. I guess I've actually come to the place of trusting God as my father, a journey that's on going of course, but one that I've come quite a distance in already.

My girls adore their dad. He can do no wrong! Lily calls him, "handsome daddy" and often says, "hey big guy!" Joei Kate loves to snuggle up to him any time she can. The way my girls love him with such an incredible love has taught me so much. I can't relate to that feeling, loving an earthly father with such intensity...so to see it manifest in my own children has shown me a different side of a father/daughter relationship.

They trust their dad. They are not afraid of him. They know he will do what he tells them he will do. They know when he is serious with them and means business, but they also know when he is being playful with them, which honestly is most the time!

I struggled for years to call God my father. It seemed an insult to call him such a name. A name that had harmed me for many years. But I'm sitting here this morning with such an overwhelming realization of just how far God has brought me! So far now, that I can say yes God, you are my father. I trust you. I am not afraid of you. I know you will do what you say you will do. I know when you are serious and when you mean business, but I know when you are being playful, which honestly is most the time. Hmm.

My husband just returned from Israel, and being where Jesus actually walked changed his life! I can only imagine! Jesus walked this earth, as a human, made up of the same physical stuff as us. Wrap your head around that for a minute! He was tempted, just like us. Yet He did not sin. He is our high priest. And when we come to Him, we don't have to approach Him in fear - the scripture says to approach Him with boldness in fact!

When my girls want something, they approach daddy with boldness. There is no fear in them. Do they respect him? Oh yes, of course. And because of that, they want to do right by him. But they are not afraid of him.

I respect God. I love Him. I'm so thankful to Him for all He has done for me. And so because of that, I want to do right by Him. I want to make the right choices in life. I want to strive to be all that I can be, because I love my Father. So with that in mind, I can approach Him with boldness. I can run to Him anytime I need to. If it's to present a request, I can boldly go. If it's to cry over a hurt, I can boldly go. If it's to vent an anger, I can boldly go. If it's simply to snuggle up with Him, I can boldly go. And so can you.

So can you.

Our duty

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve written anything, so I am literally forcing myself to sit down and do this. Everything else I need to do this morning is calling my name, but I need to get my butt in gear! Forgive me for using the word “butt.” I don’t like my kids to use the word. So I guess I could delete the word and replace it with “bottom” but where is the fun in that!

Excuse me as my 4-year-old daughter is arguing the fact that she cannot wear her “high heel boots” to the zoo today. And she left crying. Ok then.

So yesterday as I was sharing this passage of scripture at church – Oh dear, the 4 year old is back, asking if I’d just rather she threw away her High Heel boots since I don’t want her to wear them. Wow, who knew manipulation started so young.

Let’s try this again. Oh my goodness, she is walking in here again, now with the boots, towards the garbage can, threatening to throw them away. Well I guess I have to focus on this situation a minute. Excuse me…

Aaaaand I’m back. I’d love it if you would read this passage of scripture, and really, really allow it to digest into the deepest parts of your soul.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

Reading this particular passage lately is overwhelming my heart! That is what Jesus came to do. And there is something so passion-filled about it, that I couldn’t help but lose myself in that. I guess because I have personally been a recipient of that scripture. Jesus has literally done all of those things in my life.

He literally has brought me good tidings. He literally has healed my broken heart. He literally has set me free. He literally has comforted me when I most needed it. He literally has given me beauty for the ashes of a life I once had. He literally has given me joy in the place of mourning. He literally has given me the ability to praise my way out of heaviness. Literally.

Think about this for a moment – if we are called to be Christ like, that’s what a Christian is right? Well, if we are called to be like Jesus, then it would seem to me that we are to lead people in this same way. It’s our duty then, as Disciples of the Almighty God, to bring good tidings to the poor. It’s our duty to proclaim liberty to the captives. It’s our duty to show people the way out of their own personal prisons. It’s our duty then to comfort those who mourn with the only comfort we know! It’s our duty then to show people the beauty that resides inside of them. It’s our duty to lead people to praise! IT IS OUR DUTY!

Matthew 28:19-20 says, Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Go. Jesus simply said to go. And if He calls us to go, I have to assume that He is calling us to do what Isaiah 61 is talking about. It’s a lofty command, Go. It can be a command that often times is frightening to follow through with. But that’s where verse 20 comes in and brings a calm to this fearful heart…”I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

So no matter what God is calling us to do in this life, we can do it with the assurance that God is with us. He always is with us. He is right there…

Well, it's not a long post but it's a start back in the right direction. Unfortunately the bunny cage did not clean itself while I sat here so it still calls. Not too mention the stray cats that have gathered outside for food. I'm feeding the whole clan apparently. We're starting a small farm it seems. I should have listened to my husband. But don't tell him that. And the kid with the high heels is still out there, waiting to make another move. But it's all good. I can do anything. Jesus is right there...

So.

So. My kids are playing outside in massive leave piles...probably barefoot...in the cold. But they are having fun so who am I to stop the hoopla. Albeit we had a break for a leaf stuck in Lily's throat, par for the course I suppose.

So. I've wanted to write a book for a long time. And I've thought that I actually would write a book for a long time. But now, well, now I think I really am going to write a book.

So. So I have really been pondering it over and over the past few weeks. I started said book quite some time ago, wrote my first paragraph and thought I was really on a roll. Then it sat. And sat. And sat. Until a few weeks ago, I picked it up and continued. I have about a chapter done. I know, I know, a chapter and I'm already thinking I'm serious about this! So. I actually contacted a particular publishing company that I'm quite fond of, sent an e-mail and got a general response back. I figured that was the end of it, phew, no phone conversation. Email is easy! No questions to worry about having the right answers for, no need to come up with money right now, no worries right! Until he called me. Ooops.

I let it go to voicemail as I had a feeling it might be the Publishing company and I wasn't ready! What would I say? I have ONE chapter people! What's wrong with me, why did I even look into it? So much goes into the process, time, funds, etc., and I'm nowhere near starting...so why? Why. Because I felt like God wanted me to. So.

So after I did not answer the phone, I began to talk myself out of the entire thing. I am too scared to do it. Too afraid of the journey.

So I got to where I was heading, the church, I went and sat in the office, opened up my laptop as I was about to do some paperwork. But in typical Jen fashion, figured I'd peruse Twitter for a moment, cuz that's what you do when you have a quick internet connection right?

So someone had posted a link to one of my favorite blogs and it caught my attention. It was a post on the "Living Proof Live" blog called "To new writers, with love," that nearly floored me, and had I not been floating in a Grande Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte I probably would have landed on the floor.

So perhaps you won't take time to read it, although I highly recommend you do. But I could not believe that my favorite Author just happened to pen that blog post at the exact time I was talking myself out of the very thing she posted about.

Forgive the cheeziness of this line but "it was too odd not to be God."

So I waited nearly the whole day, but I finally called the Publisher back. We talked about the details, since I have zero experience in the whole thing. No pressure, gave me lots of advice. I'm not sure where I go from here, in that I still have to obviously write the book & work through the submission process. But I feel like something was conquered that day. The fear of the journey. It scared me to think of writing a book. It will share so much of my life so I feared I would say too much, or not say enough. Would people understand my heart? Would anyone even read it? Am I honoring God? So many questions.

So this really hit me:

"Perfectionism will snuff the flame. Period. Give it up. It’s cheating us out of hearing your genuine voice. These are a few reasons why we may never read books by some of the greatest writers on the planet. Some are too narcissistic to take the criticism, too undisciplined to see it through the dry spells, or too committed to greatness to settle for publishing something good. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. We don’t have to strive for fabulous. Purely doing some good can be really great."

Beth Moore is my fav. She would like me, on account of my big hair and all.

One more portion to share that just about left me in a heap of tears:

"Write on, sister or brother. Don’t wait for a publisher or a book deal. A true writer has to write even with no one to read. Scribble down rogue phrases and incomplete sentences as they come whether or not they seem strung together. Write on the backs of sales receipts or the palm of your other hand. Just write! That book is in there somewhere. If it seems slow, wait for it. (Habakkuk 2:3) And when it comes, may God speak."

So that's what I'm doing. I'm writing. And praying. And that's why I'm posting this here publicly for all 2 of you that read this. I'm asking for your prayers too. Pray that God would have His way. I know in my heart of hearts that this needs to be done. I believe I have direction on the title and the main topic of the book, but I need God ever so much. Ever so.

Thank you :)

Kate is 8?!

I have some pretty cool kids. I just do. They are both unique and different in their own ways, that is for sure. I have yet to do my usual Birthday letter to my oldest baby girl, even though she turned 8 a few months ago. But I figure, what better time than now.

I love to write letters to them; as I'm not one for scrap-booking, I figure this is the next best thing!

I think one reason I've yet to write this Birthday letter is due to the fact that I really have not yet accepted Joei Kate is 8 years old. For some reason this age is hitting me harder than any other age has. I don't know why...just, 8? I mean, 8. EIGHT. It's crazy.

Dear Joei Kate,

You are 8. And that rhymes. And if you were standing next to me we would make up a song about that, as we often make up songs about anything and everything. You are such an awesome kid. I've seen you grow up so much in the past year, too much for my liking and certainly too much for your dad's mental state to handle! I can begin to envision what life will be like for you in the next few years, as you begin to leave the world of a child and onto an actual "kid" now. Ugh.

You are in 2nd grade, with Mrs. Halley. You really like having her for a teacher. You have your BFF in class with you, so I honestly wonder if you pay attention to said enjoyable teacher but nonetheless, you like 2nd grade. You are a loyal friend. You are quick to overlook people's faults when it comes to your friendships; you are a forgiving person as well. I've watched you do it...even if you didn't realize that's what you were doing.

You are so sensitive, and so precious. You are an extremely beautiful girl, both on the outside and on the inside. You have always been, and still are, very compassionate. You don't like me to repeat things to you, such as, do your chores - get your shoes on - empty your lunch pail - on and on...But as your mother, unfortunately nagging is an allowed gift. Sorry about that ;)

You are a great reader, you picked up on that quickly. You love to color and draw, and are very good at that also. You enjoy song-writing and singing. You love to watch TV, especially if there is a fire in the fireplace. But you don't like the fireplace door open, you are extremely cautious. You still are very shy when in the company of strangers, so is Lily. But after awhile, you warm up and begin to share your awesome personality with the world! You still love to be in the nursery at church, "helping" Miss Aleyda. I think you will forever work in the nursery!

A highlight for me recently was watching you be baptized! You decided on your own, that you were ready to make that public confession of your love for Jesus, by being baptized in water. How cool for you that it was your daddy that got to do it! I think you said, "Oh poo," over the mic, if I recall...I don't remember why, but I do believe you did. Yep. That's my girl. Loves potty talk.

I sure love ya kid. I know daddy does not agree with this, as he wants you to stay little forever, but I look forward to growing with you. I look forward to all the years we have ahead of us, watching you change, watching you learn...and in turn, learning a whole lot myself. Love, mom

Spills are not always a bad thing

I love having a Pedicure, how about you? It's such a nice feeling to soak your feet, (in my house we call it "having my fat feet done." I have fat feet. And sausage toes. But I'm totally cool with it, I've accepted that fact about me and it's now become a term of endearment in my home. Along with my Polish calves. But that's another story.)

When you get a Pedicure, they shape your toe-nails, scrub your feet and heels in an attempt to smooth out any rough spots, then they delightfully massage your Polish calves. Er, I mean they massage your calves. Not everyone has PC's. Polish Calves. Again, it's a term of endearment folks, no need to say "awe Jen don't be so hard on yourself." I'm cool with it. But I blame my mother. And my aunts. If I were a blamin' sort of gal. Ok, clearly I'm off the path here...

Whenever I get a Pedicure though, I always feel so bad for the person doing it! I think, gosh, it must be a tough job to do that all.day.long. Dealing with peoples feet all.day.long. And who can know the state of everyone's feet! Can you imagine? Feet are not the most attractive attribute of a person. Did you ever meet someone and think "my they have nice feet!" No! Wait, I think I have. Nevermind. You get the point.

So today I was reading in John about Jesus washing the disciples feet. I've read it before but today it leaped off the page right into my heart. It's a long passage but I want to share it here because it's so profound:

John 13:1-17 says, Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended,[a] the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” 7 Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” 8 Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.” 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!” 10 Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.” 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.” 12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

The picture that plays in my head regarding this scene is so fascinating. Can you imagine the disciples reaction to this? And I'm sure there were servants in the room as well, what must they have been thinking? In those days, it was a servants job to wash the feet of the guests as they came in. People wore sandals and walked on dusty roads so it was not un-usual for your feet to be cleansed as you arrived into a home, however, it was very un-usual for Jesus to be doing it.

Here you have a man that has literally changed people's lives in the short time He had been ministering in full effect. People had been healed from tremendous things, raised from the dead, devils cast out, broken hearts made whole...all through this man Jesus. And now He is doing the job of a servant.

The great I AM, washing feet. The King of Kings, washing feet. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, washing feet. The Bright and morning Star, washing feet. The Creator of the universe, washing feet. The Lily of the Valley, washing feet. My redeemer, washing feet. Your redeemer, washing feet.

I would share in Peter's response of "Lord, what are you doing? You don't wash my feet! No way! I'd rush to get up, to cause Jesus to quit doing that lowly job. No way is MY Lord going to wash MY filthy fat, sausage toe havin feet! No way."

And yet Jesus says if you don't let me do this, you have no part in me. Hmmm. Wow.

Serving each other unites us on such greater a level then we can imagine. The unity felt in that room after Jesus finished that amazing act must have been something out of this world. Well, minus Judas. But still...serving unites us.

That's one thing I absolutely love about our Church, it's full of servants. People that would not bat an eye at getting down and washing someone's feet, so to speak. They are willing to rise high, to go low. Powerful people, powerful feet washing people.

Smith Wigglesworth said, "We are no good if we only have a full cup. We need to have an overflowing cup all the time. It is a tragedy not to live in the fullness of overflowing. See that you never live below the overflowing tide."

Ephesians 5:18 tells us to be "filled with the Spirit." The same book tells us in chapter 3 to be "filled to the measure with the fullness of Christ." You never know what a person can do when they are filled to the measure...when you are so full of the Spirit that you in your own self can't contain it all, so it begins to spill out on all those around you. If we stand tall all the time, steady as a rock, nothing can spill out of us right? It's only until we bend down and begin to wash the feet of another person, that stuff begins to spill. When we get down in people's lives, stuff spills. When we enthrall ourselves for the cause of another, stuff spills. When we feel the pain of another, walking through hardship with them, stuff spills. When we serve, stuff spills.

I want stuff to spill out of me today, how about you? May the Spirit of God so flow through us, that as we bend to serve, that sweet Spirit would spill. And spill. And spill.

Why?

I've read the following scripture before, even pondered it on occasion, but it's coming to life for me lately...

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the Heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I can fully get that; God's ways are higher than mine, He has a reason for everything that He does. I can read that verse and say yep, I will never understand why God moves the way He moves. Furthermore, I'm thankful for this verse. Thank God that He does things outside of my understanding, cuz how boring if He only operated according to my thoughts.

But then you see this verse in action in the lives of people around you and it causes you to really ponder the truth of what is being said. Really, really.

Yesterday, a woman in our church, one that I've grown to love a great deal over the past few years, went to be with the Lord. She fought cancer - and when I say "fought," I mean it in every sense of the word. This woman is an enigma, to say the least. I've never seen a person walk through such an intense storm in life with the amount of grace and strength as she did. Her joy for God was absolutely contagious. To watch her praise during worship was something out of this world, literally. I can only recall a handful of times she actually missed church during this battle, in fact, she was just there less than a week before she died. This woman was a fighter. She did everything she knew to do to receive a healing from the Lord. She followed the Word of God in every way possible, she did all that we know to do. And yet, she still was taken home without receiving a physical healing, here on this earth anyhow.

Now, of course we believe that she is in the midst of an ultimate healing. We could not bribe her back here if we tried! She is literally seeing with her own eyes the things that we have only been so lucky as to read about. And more than we have read...more than we can imagine...because again, our thoughts can't even begin to go there.

So as my heart is so grieved over this, as I will no longer be able to watch an extraordinary trophy of God's grace dance before Him, I'll not be able to sit and joke with her about the state of her wig or the lack of her make up, or the fact that her husband had the job of once helping her with her make-up, thereby making her look like a clown, or the fact that she was called a little old man in the hospital once, so she decided to wear fancy sparkly hats from there out...I'll greatly miss those things...BUT, I have the hope that I'll see her again.

And as I sat yesterday upon hearing the news, pondering this woman's faith, an unshakeable faith, I asked the question that we all have asked at one point or another, why? Why was she called home to glory? Why was she not healed here on this earth? Because in my mind, wow, imagine the amazement the doctors would have felt if she was healed here. Imagine the glory God would be given.

And then I was quickly reminded of this verse. My thoughts are not His thoughts. What I think would have been a phenomenal chapter for her cannot even match what God's thoughts are on the book of her life. Only God took each step with her, journey after journey. Storm after storm. Victory after victory. Setback after setback. Miracle after miracle.

I can try to reason why God moved in this way, but again, my thoughts are not His thoughts. So even my reasoning isn't even a drop in the bucket compared to the reasoning of God.

Why did the Lord take my husband's dear mother home at the young age of 46? In my thoughts, man, imagine the glory that could have come to the Lord had He chose to heal that precious woman completely! My girls would have the joy of knowing her. I would have the honor of having a mother in law. But again, my thoughts are not His thoughts. My ways are not His ways.

So to anyone that might find themselves in a place of "why" today, remember this verse. It won't answer your question, it won't immediately take the sting away from the grief, it may not even bring you that solace you so desire in this particular moment...but if you will allow yourself to fall back into the arms of Jesus, eyes shut, body limp, just fall back. The one that does know the answer will catch you. And one day, in the sweet by and by, you will ask the questions, and He will tell you why.

As the Heavens are higher than the Earth, so are His ways higher than ours. That's pretty high. But not too high for Him to catch you. He's just a fall away...

You actually can

I started taking some kickboxing classes last week, AKA "torture classes." There is one instructor in particular who is very, very difficult. I'd say she was my friend but I've come to doubt the validity of our friendship after the brutality this woman puts me through! Ahh well she actually is my friend, and she does push us, extremely hard, but it's good as it causes me to do things I have never been able to do.

So the other day Lily (my 4 year old) & I were talking about Miss Nina and how tough she is; I was telling her how she always encourages us, telling us "you can do it!" To which Lily said, "She's actually right, you CAN do it. You never give up."

The way Lily so emphatically said that was great! She said it as if to say, "duh mom, of course you can do it, because you never should give up." In her little four year old mind, it's common sense, you don't give up. It's not optional. You just keep going.

I read this morning in Matthew such an encouraging scripture: Matthew 25:21 says, "His Lord said to him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord."

This is the passage of scripture that describes what each individual did with the talents they were given by their Master, this referring to money but I liken it to the gifts God has given us. I love how the Bible says in Matthew 25:15, "To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability."

"Each according to his ability." Hmmm. "Each according to his ability." One more time, "each according to his ability."

When I look back over my life, (mind you I just realized I'm actually a year younger than I thought I was, so I have an extra year to live now!) and I focus on the years that I've been a Christian, about 21 years now, it's interesting to look at the "talents" God has given me along the way. First of all, 21 years? Wow. Thank you Lord for saving me as a teenager.

Second, God gave me talents? Yes. And He has given them to you as well. That's a bizarre thing to process isn't it? I never, ever look at myself as talented. I consider myself average, always have been. I've never been one to think gee, I've got skills. Because I don't. Although I can bust a pretty good groove...in my head. And I can make up random songs about random things, preferably to 80's tunes. But I digress.

Average. In the middle. Not a cut above, not upper class, not in the higher bracket, not necessarily below, but not above. Hmm. Some of the words that are used to define the word "average" are, "medium, mediocre & ordinary."

Gosh. When you look at it like that, it sure is a stark contrast to what God say's about us, isn't it? The Bible tells me that I am "more than a conquerer." That means I'm not only winning the battle, but I'm taking spoils with me. More. God tells me that "I will be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath." Then of course we know that we "are fearfully and wonderfully made, that God's works are marvelous."

Me, marvelous? Above? The Head? More than a conqueror? Nah, not me. Not this little girl that grew up in a horrible environment, poor, abused & shamed. Surely God is not referring to me. Surely He is speaking to everyone else right? Because this little girl from the ghetto is lucky to even be average. I deserve far less.

How about you? Is that how you feel too? I'd venture to say that many of us do indeed feel that way. Because if we didn't, if we really grasped the intensity of God's call on our lives, if we truly knew that He indeed has "clothed us with strength and dignity," if we really, really, really could comprehend that every scripture in God's Holy word is actually for us little old average folks, then my goodness friends we would be taking up the talents that God has given to us, and we would run this race set before us; we would have the confidence that caused Lily to say, "Of course you can do it,YOU NEVER GIVE UP!"

I'm not average. And neither are you. Anyone that calls themselves a son or a daughter of the King of Kings has no room for mediocrity. Our blood is too strong for that, our inheritance too rich. The same power that flowed through Jesus is the same power that flows through us. Jesus was anything BUT average.

I don't know about you, but I can picture Jesus, kneeling down to pick me up from my self-proclaimed average position, slowly lifting me up until our eyes met - imagine that for a moment. Looking into the eyes of your Master. The one that knows everything about you, the good, the bad and the ugly. He knows it. He knows your doubt, He knows your anger, He knows your thoughts, He knows your actions. He knows it. He knows the environment you were raised in, He knows the struggles that you faced, He knows the hills you had to climb and He knows the valleys you have sat in. He knows it. And regardless of it all, He bids you to come. And when you come to Him, He cleans you up, He restores those things that have been taken from you, He puts all kinds of goodness into ya, and then He does something that he certainly does not have to do, He gives you talents.

Jesus has given each and every one of us talents. What are yours today? And we're not talking "America's got Talent," or something. Not a gift that the world views as a talent, although sometimes that is the case and God certainly uses that. But I'm referring to that thing that God has gifted YOU to do. It's unique to YOU. Tailor made for YOU. And whatever it is, it will draw people to the Lord. Cuz that's how we do...

Like the scripture in Matthew said, good and faithful "servant." When you love Jesus, you will use your talents to serve. When Jesus consumes every part of you, those gifts just keep on flowing from you, often un-awares. When He is your all and all, you say like Lily, "You actually can do it..you never give up."

You actually can. You actually can...