Focus Forward

Difficult. Painful. Taxing. Rough.  Getting through the end of a season can be any or all of these things.  Starting from scratch can be equally daunting.  And yet, we must persevere; push through and to everything God has promised.  The dream, the vision cannot birth itself.  We must Lamaze our way to the manifestation of God’s word.  Tired, hurting, depleted we must press through the final stages of our pregnancies and deliver what God has spoken.  While it is tempting to tire of opposition along our way, we cannot “lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” (Galatians 6:9)  When memories of past challenges or failures vie for our attention, we must forget “what lies behind and strain…forward to what lies ahead….” (Philippians 3:13)

God is prepared to deliver.  He has already started to fulfill His word.  We must focus on what’s in front of us and see the new things springing forth in our lives.  He is currently making ways “in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)  He is helping us, He is ushering us to victory.  Though our paths seem impassable, He is with us.  Let me stop stealing from the Bible and type this whole verse out.

Fear not [there is nothing to fear], for I am with you; do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen and harden you to difficulties, yes, I will help you; yes, I will hold you up and retain you with My [victorious] right hand of rightness and justice.         -Isaiah 41:10

God’s got us.  By His grace we’re closing in on the victory He has promised.  With His help we can complete our race and receive the prize(s) we’re due. (Philippians 3:14)  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (4:13) Every word He has spoken will not return to Him [without producing an effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which [He] pleases and purposes, and it shall prosper in the thing for which [He] sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

Throughout whatever difficulties we face in completing our existing God-given assignments and launching new ones, we must not lose hope.  “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”  (Hebrews 11:1)  We must persevere, relying on God’s word for faith to finish and faith to start.  Shrug off discouragement, disappointment, and weariness.  Commune with God in prayer, feast on the Word, and keep moving.  Refuse the temptation to ruminate on past or present hardships and focus forward.

It's Been A While

It's been a while.  Almost 5 years. 

Reviewing old blogs reminds of the exciting place I was in way back in 2011, anticipating my next move.  Where would I go?  What would I do next?  How would I realize my dreams in education and ministry?  Well, Haiti called and I answered.  Indianapolis did too and I answered.  I've spent the last 4 and a half years living in Indianapolis, earning a teaching license and a building level administrator license.  (Principal Witherspoon will soon be an appropriate title.) I've also managed to find my way back to Haiti and teach amazing children in 4 distinct school models locally.  Along the way I got fired and hired. I've cried, laughed, become an aunt, made some friends, survived Indy's crazy winters, and developed an unshakeable faith.  It is this faith in God that has kept me sane and sustained.  Throughout all of my triumphs and trials God has kept me.  He has faithfully encouraged and nourished me, pushing and pulling me forward on this predestined path.  And that is what brings me back here. 

While praying about what was next in my life God told me to restart my blog.  I expected something more profound.  (I did hear other things too like resume volunteering in the juvenile justice system.  I started discipling girls in the Marion Co. Juvenile Detention Center last year.  Please join me in prayer for them.) But, yeah, God told me to restart my blog.  I have some suspicions as to why, but only He knows all.  I trust Him and I know that I have many stories to tell.  Principally His, evidenced through my own.  But, yeah, I'm back to writing.  While I cannot tell you the direction I'll take, I can tell you that I'm excited to see where this familiar leg of my race leads.  I have a post ready for publishing immediately following this brief re-introduction entitled, "Focus Forward." As always, I hope it inspires, comforts, and challenges. 

I appreciate all of your support and pray God's best for you including the courage it takes to follow His directions, no matter how grand or seemingly trivial. Follow God. 

Bon voyage...

Sex on the Brain

For about a year, I've been serving with a prison ministry that also visits a local juvenile detention center. This experience has truly enriched my life and has been nothing but a BLESSING! Through my time at Juvy the Lord has gifted me with community and grown my teaching ministry. My primary role is to share the Word of God with the kids, to teach them, but they always end up schoolin' me.

Today's lesson title was Counterfeits. We spent a brief time defining the term and naming counterfeits we commonly use including cubic zirconia in place of diamonds, store brand pop (or soda, depending on where you're from) instead of Coke or Pepsi, and monopoly money versus actual Benjamins. We talked about Satan's desire to entice us, to trap us, to snare us, to entangle us in web's of perverse fulfillment of our God-given desires,to use this evil fulfillment to transform us into counterfeits. Thankfully, the conversation quickly turned to sex.

As always, it started with thoughts. The question was posed, "Is it a sin to have sexual thoughts?" I went on to explain that an initial sexual thought would not be considered a sin. (Please feel free to refute this in the comments section.) The problem (sin) would be maintaining these thoughts, dwelling on them, allowing them to, in the words of my 11th grade English teacher, marinate. The boys understood the concept. A bird may hover above your head, perhaps even lay an egg, but you shouldn't allow it to build a nest there. Ok, cool. But what about sex? Does God really expect us to abstain from sex until marriage? The Goodfellas weren't really "feelin' that."

I went on to explain that like every other area of our lives, God has a plan for our sexuality. He has given sexuality and sexual desire to us and they are good gifts. Like all other gifts God expects us to use them to bring Him glory, to make Him famous. Like all other gifts, God has provided guidelines and parameters for their use. Like all other gifts, Satan WORKS to get us to exercise our sexuality, to fulfill sexual desire outside of these boundaries. He tries to make us-people who claim to follow Jesus, people who confess Christ's Lordship or leadership of our lives-Counterfeits.

With the boys' eyes widened, I proceeded to discuss ways that Satan specifically tries to trap men with regards to the abuse of sex. We surveyed Proverbs 5 & 7 where we learned valuable lessons like Girls Got Game, Too, Taste It and Die, Run, Forrest, Run, and Keep Your Butt at Home.

With loads of humor we made it through our lesson and determined that sex is good, at least that's what they tell me, sex is powerful, and sex has rules. It is Satan's job to get us to disobey and succumb to sexual temptation. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, through hiding God's Word in our hearts, through resisting temptation, we CAN live sexually PURE lives.

Got my toes stepped on!

To Be Continued.