Who Am I?

I woke up yesterday morning and started getting ready for church, thinking about this HUGE test I have coming on Wednesday. It was all I could think about. I even thought about what I would say in Sunday School when they asked for prayer requests. See, in my little world, I was all I could see.

When time for prayer requests rolls around in Sunday School, everyone mentions their medical test or a death in the family or a friend who is battling cancer. They all seem so big in comparison and I actually decided to keep my mouth shut about the test. After all, who am I to ask for God's prayer for a standarized test when there are so many other huge problems in just that tiny room alone?

That was Satan. God cares for all of our needs and He is God enough to handle anything we bring Him. I counted it small in comparison to those around me, but it was big in my little world. This test has been one that has haunted me for almost six years. I want it behind me. Once and for all.

Well, I mentioned it. I asked for prayer and I believe that I will get it. There are true prayer warriors in that class and I have confidence that they will take all of the prayer requests before the throne of God, including my seemingly "small" one.

Why do we classify things? Why do we think that our problems fade in comparison to others because they aren't as severe or as traumatic? God cares about each and every one of us and whatever we are going through. He commands us to seek His face in all things. Not just the "big" things. God wants us to have the kind of relationship with Him where we feel completely and totally free to bring to His feet whatever burdens we are carrying.

The pastor preached on Israel and the turmoil in God's land today. Could Armaggedon be near? The evidence that we are in the last days is in Revelation, but is this it? Are we on the verge of the Great Tribulation? I don't know. I have no idea. I know what the Bible says and I cling to it, but I don't know if this it. Noone knows except God. Not even Jesus knows the day.

Even with all that's going on in the world, my mind is still focused on my test. Are there more important things that I should be concerned with? Probably, but this is pretty important to me. It doesn't affect anyone else, but it is still extremely important to my life.

God is a big God. He has the ability to handle all things at once and never strain. He carries the worlds' burdens on His shoulders and we never hear Him complain. He wants to lighten my load. He wants me to lay all my cares at His feet. He wants me to lay my head down at night and not be weary. So, that's what I'm doing. The worries of the world and the pain of those close to me still weigh heavy on my heart and will always be on my mind, but God will handle those. God is in control and there is nothing I could do that would even come close to Him.

Who am I to tell God when and how HE should take care of things? Who am I to question His ability to handle the worlds' problems and my own? Who am I to doubt my God?

Ever Present

Has anyone ever told you "I'm always here for you"? How often is that statement true? When a friend or family member is going through a difficult time, we have the best of intentions in truly wanting to be there for that person. Your heart tells you that there is nothing more important than being there during an extreme time of need. Your brain tells your mouth to utter those five words and your heart tells you that you right to do so.

As a little girl, I loved the movie "ET", mainly because it had my favorite candy in it: Reeses Pieces. It was a touching story of a little boy befriending an alien who was left behind on earth. The alien and the little boy become so close that the boy begins to feel the same illness that befalls ET. One of the cool things about ET was the way he talked. He introduced phrases like "ET, phone home" and "Ouch" into the world that soon everyone was mocking him.

The phrase I remember the most was ET saying, "I'll be right here." It was ET's way of telling Elliot that he would never really leave him, even though Elliot wouldn't be able to see ET. Do I believe in aliens? No. Do I believe that those four simple words hold power? Yes.

God tells His children the same thing. I'll be right here. No matter how strong our intentions are, life often takes over and makes us "unavailable" when our friends need us the most. Not that we do it on purpose, but it does happen. It's happened to me a lot.

I have five nieces and I adore each and everyone of them. I have a different relationship with each little girl. My sister's youngest daughter attached herself to me from birth. She's almost three now and melts my heart with a smile and an "I love you". She has so much personality and she is very curious. So curious that she drives her mother crazy at times and then turn right around and be the angel you imagine children to be.

My sister's husband took a new job in Tennessee and for the past three weeks, I've been getting accustomed to the fact that they don't live in Georgia anymore. I can't drive twenty minutes down the road and see four of my nieces and my sister anytime I want to. Before they left, I taught my youngest niece to say some of the things that ET said. She mastered "ouch" and "phone home", but the one that always gets me is "I'll be right here." I wanted her to remember that even if she couldn't see me, that I was still there.

As all my nieces grow older, regardless of where they live, I pray that they all know that while I have the best of intentions and will do my best to be there if ever any of them need me; God is always there. He never leaves us. Even if we can't see Him, He is still there.

Jeremiah 23:23-24 talks about the Ever-Present God. That means "always there." He is the one constant that anyone can count on in life. It's not family or a close friend or a spouse, it's God. HE can, and will, sustain us. HE is all that we ever need. HE is the only one who can truly say "I'll be right here."

Daddy's Girl

I am definitely a daddy's girl. The youngest of three children, I grew up thinking there was nothing my father could not do. He had the ability to keep the boogeyman at bay and kill the horrendous spiders that tormented me. He had the compassion to hold me after a nightmare and cradle me in the safety of his arms whenever I felt frightened. He had the patience to sit by my bed when I was two just before I was taken into surgery to have my tonsils removed. He had the strong hand I needed when I did something wrong and the forgiveness to never hold past wrongs over my head. He was one of the most intelligent men I have ever known.

As an adult, my father hasn't changed much in my eyes. He's a little older with more gray hair, but he hasn't changed on the inside. He's just as brave, compassionate, loving, patient, and forgiving as he ever was. His intelligence guides me and instructs me still today. I seek his advice on virtually every aspect of my life. Next to God, he was the most important man in my life.

Until I met my husband. I've heard it said that when the youngest daughter marries, she searches for a husband that is most like her father. That is definitely true in my case. I wanted qualities in my husband that mirrored qualities I saw in my father and God provided me with a loving husband that possessed those qualities and more. I value my husband's opinion more than my father's. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't still seek my father's guideance from time to time and my husband is OK with that. Truth be told, my husband loves my father almost as much as I do. Almost. And that means the world to me.

My father is not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination, but he's as close to it as I could hope to be. The one thing my father taught me that sticks out from all the other "life lessons" was to place my faith in God and believe that He will see me through. It hasn't always been easy, but my father was right. God was with me every step of the way.

My earthly father is a man that I love, admire, and adore. My Heavenly Father is one that I worship. My Heavenly Father knows me better than my earthly father could ever hope to know me. The Bible says that I have been adopted into the family of God and I believe that with every ounce of my being. God is my Father. My Abba.

God longs to have that kind of relationship with His children. The kind of relationship where we come to Him for all of our needs. He wants us to talk to Him just as we talk to our earthly father. He desires a relationship with US. That's amazing to me. The God of the universe -- the God that put each star in its place -- wants to have a relationship with ME! What makes me so special? What makes a young woman living in Georgia so important to the Creator of the world?

The answer is Jesus. Jesus came to earth to die for ME! He looked into the year 1975 and saw my birth. He looked further and saw each and every sin that I would committ until the day I died. He knew that God, the Father, could not look on those sins and I would be separated from my Heavenly Father. My earthly father is been behind me every step of my life. He's supported me. Challenged me. Loved me. Taught me. But most importantly, he encouraged me to rely on God.

As I child, when I did something bad, the disappointment in my father's eyes was worse than anything he could do to me. I adored the man and I let him down. The pain of that realization burned inside until I cried and cried, desparate to feel Dad's arms around me again. Telling me that it was alright. He still loved me.

When I sin, the disappointment in my Heavenly Father's eyes, though I can't see it, burns inside of me until I cry out to Him, begging Him to forgive me. I don't want to be separated from my Father. My Abba. If it wasn't for Jesus and His death on the cross and His resurrection three days later, I wouldn't have that relationship with my Heavenly Father. I couldn't be close to Him. Sin would be the gap between us and I could do nothing about it.

God wants us to be close to Him. He yearns for a close relationship with His children. With sin in the world, He knew HE had to be the one to create a bridge. He sent Jesus to earth and watched as the people mocked Him, beat Him, and killed Him. He waited until that third day when Jesus arose and conquered death. He still watches as His children come running to Him, with Jesus covering the gap between sin and God.

I love my earthly father. Love him more than I could ever describe. But my love for him is nothing compared to the love I feel for God. I am now, and will forever be, Daddy's girl.

Eternal God

What does it mean for something to be eternal? How can something (or someone) never have a beginning? Or an end? It's hard for our finite minds to comprehend "eternal."

In Genesis 21:33, we read about Abraham calling upon the "Eternal God." It may be hard to fathom, but it's not hard for me to believe. Faith doesn't mean total understanding. Faith sometimes doesn't even include remote understanding. There are things in God's Word that I can't begin to understand, let alone explain to anyone else. However, I have the faith that the Bible is God's inerrant Word. The entire contents of the Bible holds my faith.

Even Atheist who say they believe in nothing are wrong. They have their own version of faith and, whether they admit it or not, they have basic spiritual faith. They may not profess to believe in a "higher being" and they may discount all beliefs that there is an eternal resting place for every human being, but they still have faith. They have faith that the air they breath will continue to give them life. They have faith that the chairs they sit in will keep them from falling. They have faith that the sun rises and sets. They have faith that stars in the sky, even if they can't see them. How can anyone go through life without even basic faith?

Some may call me naive because I have faith in God and His Word. But God and His inerrant Word give me hope and strength to be more than a conqueror over the world and tragic circumstances. He holds my every care in His hand and shelters me like only a Father would do.

Power

Power. The word itself enlists the body to feel a sudden surge of strength and capability. The idea of power causes some men to see that their nationality of people is superior than others and that the inferior race has no cause for living. Hitler believed that the Germans were so far advanced from the lowly Jews, that he sought to annihilate the Jews and almost succeeded. Millions of Jews were killed because of Hitler's thirst for power. The few that survived, have horrendous memories of concentration camps and watching their entire families be ripped apart. And for what? All because one man sought the power to conquer what he believed to be an inferior race.

I was born in 1975, so I have no first hand knowledge of the events that took place during Hitler's reign of terror. What I have learned, I have learned in school and listening to old stories my grandfather would tell. Power itself is not good or evil and to thirst for power doesn't throw you up on the same level as Adolf Hitler. Like most things, what makes a thing good or evil is how the person uses it.

In my opinion, I believe that Billy Graham has power. He has the power to reach the world in a way that a lot of Christians only dream about. He has the power to present Christ in such a way that anyone can understand. He has the God-given power to force people to see their sin and see their need for a Savior.

In trying to understand who God is, I think we must first understand and believe that He is powerful. God is in control. He is in control of everything good and everything bad. Nothing happens in this world without His consent. Satan brings evil into the world only after God gives him permission. Satan can do nothing without God's consent.

Why does God allow Satan to bring evil into the world at all? If God is powerful, why doesn't He crush Satan now and let the world live in peace and harmony? Those are very good questions. Questions that I have asked myself through my Christian walk. I do not doubt that God has the power to "take out Satan" or to unite the world under His name. God has proven His power time and time again throughout history. Why He doesn't do it -- I don't know.

I do know that God gave people the will to choose. God wants us to serve Him and worship Him, but only by choice. I read a question in an online forum yesterday that asked "If God gave us the right to choose, why does He punish us after we make our choice?" It's a valid question. But if we take the time and think about it, we will realize that with every choice, there is a consequence. Our parents taught us that. If given the freedom to make a choice in a certain situation, then we must also be given the freedom to accept the consequences of that choice.

God is no exception. He allows us the freedom to make our own choices, but He cannot deny us the right to accept those consequences. The biggest choice God gives us the choise to accept Him or deny Him. The consequence that WE choose for OURSELVES is Heaven or hell. Plain and simple. There is no gray here. You're either right or you get left.

The Devil Wears Prada

The book-turned-movie gives the spectator an inside peek into the fast paced world of fashion in New York (and a smaller peek at fashion in Paris). Was it a peek I cared to take? Not really. I haven't read the book, but I have seen the movie. I wasn't too overly thrilled to see the movie and I proved to be right. It was exceedingly dull with a very, very thin plot. Anne Hathaway plays a journalist trying to pave her way to the New York Times or some "important" paper like that, so she takes an assistant job to the fashion magazine's editor-in-chief. Hathaway is about as fashionally inclined as Sandra Bullock was in the beginning of her hilarious comedy "Miss Congeniality".

The superficial world of fashion and anorexia soon draws Hathaway in and transforms her. The typical story of the ugly duckling turned swan that's been done so many times, it's not even funny. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good transformation just as much as anyone, but this movie treaded on a very fine line and crossed that line on a few occasions.

The movie jabs at girls who are larger than a size 4 and praises the superficiality of the fashion world. It's values are completely twisted and distorted. However, I do believe this was Hollywood's attempt to show the rest of the world just how distorted the fashion industry truly was. Regardless, it's a "D" movie that leaves you wondering where the past two hours of your life went.

Then why did I go? Well, you never know if you like something until you try it. At least that's true in most cases. I didn't want to see this movie when I saw it advertised. I wasn't willing to pay $8 to see a movie about fashion when as fashionally minded as Anne Hathaway's character in the beginning of the movie. I care more about a person's inside and their brains than their clothes and shoes. It's silly to me.

Again, why did I go? The answer is simple: my friend wanted me to.

Like Hathaway's character in the movie, we are often persuaded to do things that we really don't want to do just to please someone else. While I didn't care for the movie, I enjoyed spending time with my friend and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I haven't spent much time with this friend since I had been preoccupied with my wedding and honeymoon. Now that I've been married for just a little more than a month, I'm discovering that I've neglected a few things.

My friends have always been very important to me, as they should be. However, my husband is the 2nd most important person in my life, 2nd only to God. I have to think of my marriage first. I've been blessed with a terrific husband who wants me to spend time with my friends as much as I do. He understands how important my friends are and how I strive to maintain my friendships with them.

When my friend mentioned going to see this movie, I didn't hesitate. No, I didn't really want to see it, but I did want to see my friend. Friendship demands several things from both parties and sacrifice is one of them. I have no doubts that my friend will, and has, done the same thing for me a time or two.

In 1 Samuel 20, I read about David and Jonathan. One of the most vivid pictures of friendship ever recorded. King Saul, Jonathan's father, feels threatened by David and sees no other way than to have David killed. Of course he knows that his son and David are friends, so he keeps his plot to kill David a secret from Jonathan. David, terrified and confused as to why Saul would want to kill him, runs to Jonathan and confides in him. How do you think Jonathan took the news that his father was trying to kill his best friend? How would you take it?

Jonathan denied it and refused to believe that his father would do that. David, being wise and cautious, devised a plan to show Jonathan the truth about his father. When Jonathan followed through with the plan and discovered the truth, he was deeply grieved and promised help David in any way he could.

While my sacrifice was significantly smaller than Jonathan's, the result is the same: maintaining friendship. The Bible says that Jonathan loved David as much as he loved himself. Jonathan was willing to do whatever was necessary to save his friend's life. Even going against his own father.

Are we willing to do that? Do we have a friend that we love just as much as we love ourselves? I have a few and while I have not been asked to offer the same sacrifice as Jonathan gave, I pray that I will be able to if the need ever arises. Until then, I will continue with my current sacrifice: The Devil Wears Prada