Sometimes Love Looks Like a Potty

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assumptions, christian walk, encouragement, family life, focus, getting the right perspective, God's love, God's practical love, having the right perspective of God's love, how God shows His love to us, love, perspective, practical ways to love, reality of family life, seeing God's love every day, seeing God's love for us, what love looks like

Yes, you read the title right. After 24 years of marriage, (I hate to break it to the newlyweds), love sometimes looks like a brand, spanking new, no clog, beautiful porcelain, name brand potty. Sometimes, love does look like you imagined growing up with all the candlelight, moonlight and any other light you can imagine, but oftentimes in the existence of everyday issues, a potty is involved.

Last week, we had an issue in our home and a new potty got moved from the someday list to the today list. After a few calls to my guy, he was able to buy, deliver and install said potty within a few hours. Wow! What a man! We teased each other about our “potty love” for the rest of the night. The really crazy thing is if he had brought me flowers that day and took me to a candlelit dinner I wouldn’t have felt as loved as I did with him installing our new potty. Love needed to look different from a fairy tale that day.

I wonder how often God shows me His love in practical ways every day, but because it’s not what I imagined, I don’t see it?

Believe me, the day of the potty I felt God’s love as well as my man’s. You see, my guy wasn’t even supposed to be able to come home until the next evening, but unexpectedly he finished what could be done on the job site and was able to come home…a whole day early! Our God is practical in His love.

If God had sent me a phone call from a friend that day when I really needed a potty, I wouldn’t have felt His love as much. He gave me what I needed and I was able to feel how loved and cherished I am to Him.

On other days, if a potty showed up at my door, I would have been thankful, but very confused. I’m sure those were the days that a call from a friend did come because that’s what I needed that day. You see? We need eyes wide open to see all the ways God shows His love to us just like I need eyes wide open to see all the ways that my guy shows his love for me. Some days, it’s candlelight and some days… it’s a potty.

Look around this Holiday Season and notice all the ways God is showing His love to you. Did your family’s favorite pie turn out just right? That’s God’s love. Did your pie get burned to a crisp, but your new daughter-in-law needed to see you’re not perfect? That’s God’s love to both of you. Did you have money to buy the ingredients for the pie? Did you have a stove to cook it in? All God’s love. Didn’t have any of that? Well, how about air to breathe? That’s God’s love. Water to drink? God’s love. A coat to wear? God’s love. A hug from a friend? God’s love. The ability to read this blog? God’s love. God shows His love in many, many ways we just need eyes to see it.

So, as you look around for all the ways that God is choosing to show His love for you over the next few days, pray that seeing His love becomes a habit. Pray that you will see and feel His love as you never have before and realize that sometimes God’s love looks like candlelight, but oftentimes times it looks like a new potty.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

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Getting Mud Between My Toes

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a messy life, being hurt in church, christian journey, dealing with vain tradition, disappointments in church, encouragement, encouragement for the brokenhearted, getting dirty, getting messy in life, God's truth, how can I get past the hurt, I need encouragement, man's opinion, religion, tradition, tradition of men, truth, vain tradition, when life gets messy

 

Song of Solomon 5:3-5 says, “I have taken off my dress. How can I put it on again? I have washed my feet. How can I dirty them again? My Beloved extended His hand through the opening, and my feelings were aroused for Him. I arose to open to my Beloved…”

Lately, I’ve been pretty discouraged with what I will call the “established” church. Not the doctrine, but the implementation of that doctrine through tradition and opinion. I’ve really questioned my place in ministry on a local level and I’ve been anxious about God calling me to another area of service before I’m “ready”…whatever that means. (Imagine the kid on the team who doesn’t think he’s ready to play, white knuckling the bench every time the coach needs another player, cringing in case he hears his name called? Yep, that’s been me.)

As I was reading through Song of Solomon, I came across this beautiful passage in chapter 5 and realized that even though I feel as if I have washed my feet and taken off the old garments and do not want to get dirtied up again, when my Beloved reaches for me, I’ll be ready. Why? Because my feelings for Him will once again allow me to willingly say, “Yes” to whatever He has for me. I won’t be excited because of the assignment. I will be ecstatic because I get to run away with my Beloved. So what if I get a little dirt on my clothes and feel mud oozing through my toes? So what if life gets messy once again? As long as my Beloved is guiding me, as long as I am open to His guidance, it will always be worth it. I’m finally remembering that it’s always better to be a little dirty with Jesus than sitting in a room scared that I’ll ruin my shoes.

Life is messy. Ministry is messy. Family life is messy. You name it and it’s messy, but God has called us to minister, to love and to bless others, not to stay in the chamber of our life too scared of a little dirt to follow Him when He reaches for us.

Right now, God has me in a place of encouragement and excitement and I am able to enjoy simply being in His presence. It’s fun, but I know that there may come a time when He reaches for me to enter the fray once again. Whatever that may look like, however things may play out, whenever He reaches for me to come out of my pristine chamber I will run after Him knowing that He loves me more than I could ever imagine and knowing that when I get dirtied up again He is faithful to cleanse, restore and renew. How could I not run with a God like that?

So, if you’re like me and a little nervous about the next step, (maybe you feel like the kid on the bench not quite ready to be in the game), know that when your Beloved extends His hand towards you to come away with Him, it’s always the right time and even if you don’t know you’re ready, He does. Be confident in who He sees, take His hand and run with Him as you have never run before.

My Story

Seeking Hearts Ministries

(image by seat of my soul)

 

Can God be Trusted?

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can God be trusted, Can I trust God, circumstances, daily trust, do I really trust God, God can be trusted, God never lets go, how to keep trusting God when things seem hopeless, how to trust God, how to trust God fully, is trusting God worth it, keep trusting God, knowing God can be trusted, seeing beyond the now, trust, trust in God, trusting God, trusting God with our children, trusting God with your anguish, truth, who can I trust, why God can be trusted

 

Do you ever wonder if God can really be trusted? Do you ever wonder if trusting God is worth it? Do doubts about His love for you creep in when the lights are off and the house is quiet?

This session discusses many obstacles we face when learning to trust God and answers some questions like, “Does God want our questions?” “Does God get mad when we doubt Him?” and “Does God deserve to be trusted?”

I love this session because we see how people in the Bible dealt with their trust issues and how those examples can teach us how to deal with our own doubts.

This is the last session I will link to the blog (as far as I know), so if you want to be notified of other videos in the future you will need to subscribe to the YouTube channel. When you watch a session, there is a subscribe button right below the video.

Praying you all have a weekend filled with joy!

YouTube – Can God be Trusted?

 

God’s Love for Us

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describing God's love, filling the holes in your life, God's love, God's love for us, God's love for you, how much does God love us, Jesus loves you, love, our God, Prince Charming, satisfaction, true love, true satisfaction, what does God do all day

 (image by JattDiSite)

Hey Everbody!

This week’s blog is a little different than normal. God opened up some amazing opportunities in the last few weeks and led me to launch a YouTube channel! So, I am linking you all to the site where you can see a meeting where I was able to describe God’s love for us in a little more detail than you may have heard before.

I’m super excited about it, so let me know what you think!

YouTube – God’s Love