Your New Year Approach

One challenge of an airline pilot is what my son-in-law calls "the approach". The pilot's skills in flying, guiding, lining up the craft on the landing strip is felt by all who travel.  The the actual touchdown of the wheels on the runway need to be as smooth as possible.  As travelers we want that!  As pilots, they want to hit the mark every time. 

The force in which they have to come to a halting stop, with so many pounds of momentum is really beyond me.  I just appreciate their efforts in getting passengers on the ground safely. They know the best way to approach, the best way to go about the safe landings. And those safe landings bring us closer to adventure or to home. 

The new year is here, upon us in full force. Did you make any goals you had set for yourself?

Right around the corner from the start of this new year is opportunity. The chance to start over or again.   What do you need to get your life back on track?  What do you need to approach this new year to be successful in your goals?

For me it's just making each day God's brand new day. Remembering God's faithfulness and fullness at the start of it and then taking God tucked into the rest of my day's approach. 

God's approach for the end of my day starts with 

my letting Him control  the beginning of my day.

I don't know what is around my corners of the new year. Most days I can't see my runways. Only God can.  So with the first part of my day, I have to give him have access to my heart's instruments and gauges to let Him guide me in His best approach.

All you control freaks out there....can I get an Amen?  I can't do this once.  I have to daily surrender under the wheels of God's grace and favor. It's His grace and favor that has set my course, by His divine design.  He knows where this soul's plane is approaching, He's got this flight plan all lined out.

Do you hear His voice calling your approach?  
"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me" John 10:14

God wants to journey you through this year, through this day, through His changes, His best flight plans and diversions.  He wants to taxi you down his runway with His best approach to experience His best, in this new year.  His grace is enough for your journey. His favor rests on your heart. 

This journey of approaching home is just that. His journey for you.  This is your journey of faith that brings His change in the seasons, change through growth, and change of action of  heart.  Let God's approach be your day.  Let God approach your day.   

Let God...approach.

Let God bring you to His place of grace.  
His approach for the end of your day starts with 

letting Him control the beginning.    

Just Maybe Out of Your Clutter

Whew...out of the clutter of 2012, I am finding simplicity.  Out of the clutter of my mind being weighted with 30 extra pounds, I can see things more clearly.  Out of the clutter of trying to have many prayer filled conversations at one time, God is helping me see Him more clearly.

Out of the clutter of my heart...with so much...left to do here, 

I have a bigger awareness of God.

I start most conversations with the phrase "there are so many words I could say."  That's because I have I have about 10 conversations going on in my mind at once while at the same time about 20 conversations going on in my heart.  It's a clutter issue.

Let me back this cluttered blog conversation up.

Perhaps you noticed this blog has taken a serious tone for the worse or maybe you have noticed an improvement for the better.  And speaking of personally, God has narrowed the cluttered writing field down to one purpose.  My posts will be fewer each week, but hopefully (wishfully thinking) more meaningful.

2013 needs to be the year I get my hands dirty with the book(s) I want to write.  I have failed at my writing goals from last year.  I am overwhelmed with the idea of sharing my clutter with you.

It took a deep breath.....and lots of cluttered guts to just tell you that.  

This doesn't come easy for me.

What goals have you failed at or want to get your hands dirty with?  (My thoughts coming on dirty hands coming later...yes a tease to keep you coming back).

Take a look at your clutter from last year. Maybe, just maybe, your perspective of who God is and what kind of clutter you need to muddle through or get rid of, or better yet...change will come to mind.  

Maybe you will just notice the next sunset and think about your own clutter.  That's a bright spot in this post isn't it?  

"Out of clutter, find simplicity.  From discord find harmony.  

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity."  ~ Albert Einstein

I am excited about the 2013 year of clutter change.  There will be good clutter...full storms that God will bring this year.  As I pray for His best how can I NOT be excited about my clutter-free changes that are coming?

Dear God....bring the clutter!  I want to be YOUR BEST!  

Not perfect, just Your best.  You, of all, know what changes I need to make, and what changes are best for me.  And God, as you bring my clutter to the forefront, bring your wonderful grace to help me accept the difference.  

I am desperate to see God's grace in my own clutter.

Just maybe, you want changes for yourself.  Let me tell you, with the beginning of a fresh new year, full of potential, full of promise, full of God, full of a clutter free lifestyle...full of God's grace..... that is a great place to start.  Just maybe, today is the day you want to make one change.  

Just one.  Just start with one. 

Do you realize that by changing one thing a month you will have made 12 changes for a whole year by the end of 2013?  Just maybe... you can take a look at change in the midst of your own clutter.

Change for God's best will change you and it will bring life change.  Just start with one.  

Just start with the One.  

Kickin' The Tires on 2012

It was the other day, as I was writing in my prayer journal, when I realized the error of my ways.  I foolishly thought that if I prayed over one word for an entire year, God would only show me one lesson connected with that word.  

God doesn't work like that.

What I  found was, when you pray about a problem, or an seek an answer to a question, or pray a word for 365 days,  well....you do find God alright.  
What I have found is ....that our creative God gives you exactly what you ask for, but in a more interesting and challenging way, let's call it a bigger and greater way.  

Because God is just that...Bigger and Greater.

When I said I was seeking "rest" for my one word for 2012, it seemed tiny in my mind.  I needed it desperately but to me it was a tiny matter none-the-less.  I really thought it would be one of those small blips on God's prayer radar.  In the scheme of all that I still need to learn about who God is, honestly, rest or the art of resting was not one of my top God-I need-an-answer-to-this-heart-issue, nor was it high on my spiritual priority list.  

I might have been just kickin' the tires on this one-word-a-year prayer idea.

So how did God teach me to rest?  He didn't.

When I sought Him for answers, He taught me to submit to His Sovereignty.

When I sought an end to my waiting, God taught me strength and a purpose in abiding.

When I sought truth, and God showed my sugar-coated well-digested lies.

When I sought a deeper faith, God showed me His faithfulness.

When I sought an awareness of His Presence, He taught me to be still and listen.

When I sought direction, God showed me His wisdom.

When I sought His strength, God peeled back the cover on my weaknesses.

When I sought His heart, God showed me the least of these in Africa.

When I sought His peace, God showed me my fears.

When I sought His light, He showed my darkness.

When I sought confidence, God showed me my pride.

When I sought action, God brought stillness.

When I sought freedom, God showed me my sin.  

When I sought understanding, God showed me to follow and obey.

I sought His love, God romanced me with His words.

I cried the word rest..so many times, with so many words and 

sometimes with no words, and with many tears.

God bent down and listened each time.

I made more room for rest in my life and God showed me the most Perfect Rest.

God deepened my trust for the One and Only True Rest.    

What did God teach you in 2012?

Choose Your Own Adventure

I have been doing somethings for the first time...and it seems that I have crammed a lot into this year so far.

As the clock tick tocks...I still have a few things on my "firsts" list BUT I have scratched these off...I have seen at least 5 different waterfalls as I have visited different states.  I love waterfalls.  

Traveling to South Dakota with friends to attend LifeLight.  An awesome experience in the middle of a 200-acre cornfield with a bajillion bands...for free.  I saw my all-time favorite artist in concert...Leeland.  They can sing about garbage and it would be lovely.  I saw some new bands like One Sonic Society and Kari Jobe.  But have seen some others bring their awesomeness to the stage like Skillet, Leeland, and Remedy Drive.  David of Remedy Drive got a haircut and I almost didn't recognize him.  Watch out!

I have danced on stage with Mandisa and I never thought that would actually happen.  I always  imagined myself flat on my face.  That would have been embarrassing for sure.  And I am here to tell you that I survived.  Honestly, I am about as coordinated as a two-legged cow.

I have spent some time perfecting my mini-golf craft and kept a golf journal for each game.  It was a special time with girlfriends.  So is riding 10 hours in a borrowed van.  That time was spent either strengthening friendships or breaking them.  Riding an emu will do the same thing.  I'll let you guess what happened.

I have eaten some different foods like asparagus, gyros, plantains, funnel cakes, fried pies, Palisade peaches, and dark chocolate M & M's.  And there lies the beginnings of a new season of posts coming here...

With reckless abandon I have made more time with God, and have learned so much that when I think of it..it sends both chills up my spine and tears down my cheeks.  Each day I find His mercy.  Each day His grace is made perfect in my weakness.

The most adventurous season of my life is the one where my faith is growing.  it's an adventure of my choosing, one that requires me to guard my heart.  One that I have buckled myself in for the long-haul.  There is no "tuck-and-roll" plan when I get to Nebraska.  I am clinging to Jesus with my whole heart.

I am trying to make the most of every moment, not saving the best for later.

Choosing life in so many ways!  What has been your favorite adventure so far this year? 

My Pastor Must Have Read My Blog Post

Resting on a beach is nice

Surely he had read my thoughts about needing rest.  It is my one word for 2012.  So when I settled into message one in the new sermon series Soul Detox, I was astonished and thought...."He must have read my blog".  In church this past Sunday, I realized my one word theme for 2012 was more than a word, it's a lifestyle.    


Maybe you struggle with finding rest too.  Perhaps I am not the only one looking for it.  Maybe you are not brave enough to write it like I am.  When I looked at the sermon talk notes, I immediately started filling in the blanks of the points to ponder.  Scored 100%.


Knowing the answers makes me think I am on the right track.  Now it's just putting the rest I have found into practice.  That's the hard part of faith.  Reading God's word is one thing but applying it to your life is another with all our hiccups and hangups.  One thing I do know though that if we seek God, He will be found.  


It's hard work to breath in our culture and not being affected by it.  It's life that God didn't call us to be a part of...this is not our home.  He did call us to be a light to this toxic dark culture we live in.  We are all searching for something and in case you don't know it yet....you aren't going to find rest in our culture.  

There is only one place to land when looking for rest and that is in God's lap.  

Ps. 62: 1 My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  

Take five minutes and be still. I am challenged by the "still" part. Not that i haven't stopped to absorb God's Word, but it's the being silent and still that continues to change me. I find silence awkward, it's not comfortable. I need to grow here. 

I need to sign up for a double shift in silence.

Ps. 131:2 But I have stilled and quieted my soul.....

Take a knee and wait.  Here's another area where God has been growing me.  In his waiting room, there are many numbers that haven't been called yet.  So I continue to wait, take His number, sit in His lap and wait some more.  

There are some things where God is waiting on me.  Wait...I know there is.

Ps. 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.....

Honestly we don't have time NOT to be still before God.  It should be our first step out of bed, the first part of your day.  Give God your fresh and best.  Here's something you may not have realized, that God will handle the rest of the world while you are taking your five minutes.  

Be still for God, and before God.  

I wait for the Lord, my soul awaits, and in his word i put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than a watchman wait for this morning....Ps. 130:5-6

Don't forget who God is.  Reflect on God's goodness, reflect on what He has already done.  Gather at your water's edge and think about His great goodness and mercies which are new each and every morning.  As you remember His faithfulness, pick up a small smooth stone and tuck into your pocket. Think about how God is for you and never against you.  Remember....who God is!  

Remembering God should cause us to pause for five minutes.  

Need a place to start?  Pause in Psalms...