Say What!!!

God knew I would need the Study "What happens when women say yes to God" right at this specific moment in my life. I read the book back in June when God placed an opportunity for huge change in my life. For the last five years there have been moments throughout the last few years where I have been praying for God to give me the opportunity to return back to Ohio close to family. Five years ago the Lord answered my prayer to become a teacher with a job opportunity in Arizona where I said "YES to God". From that obedience five years ago I feel God blessed my life with friends, learning opportunities and a chance to touch others lives in ways I never could have done on my own. Only by Gods will could I have become the teacher I am today and had the amazing adventures he allowed me to go on.
This past June God answered my prayer with a job opening in my alumna mater teaching middle school social studies right where God had placed me. When I went to college and recieved my Secondary Education Degree I had the intention of teaching high school...but God knew the plans He had for me when he placed me in a Middle School position in Arizona. I love middle school students and the teachers who have a passion for this age group. And the Lord knew that years down the road by giving me the experience in Arizona it would open the door for me to teach in Mason where I dreamed of teaching through my college years.
Although this was a dream come true it was a major "Say What!!!" moment in my families life. We were established in Arizona with two good, steady jobs, a beautiful home, and an amazing church family. It wasnt as easy to say "YES" as I anticipated it would be.  Taking a job and moving within a month and a half along with saying Goodbye to all these relationships God had brought into my life was no easy task. There were moments of great anxiety where the devil attacked...tears, and times of doubt. But through prayer and conviction I kept hearing God say this was His will...that this was what he was asking me to do. God was asking me to be obedient.
So I have said "Yes Lord!" and here I am in Ohio about to start a new school year teaching 8th grade social studies at an amazing school with amazing people. I have been made to feel welcomed with such support and caring people. I still am thinking "SAY WHAT!!" But I know by following Gods will amazing things will happen through my obedience.

With All My Heart

So I am currently doing an Online Bible Study entitled "What Happens when Women Say Yes To God". It is powerful...and boy is God speaking to me through this study. I read the book ahead of time and it was right in the middle of God dropping the bomb in my lap that it was time for me to return to Ohio. So what else could I do but say ok God this is your doing..."YES GOD..I will go here you tell me, YES GOD..I will take this dream job...YES GOD I will trust in your provision".
This week after reviewing chapter one Lysa asks us to: Read Deuteronomy 6:5 and answer how we can love God with our heart, soul and strength.... this took me some time to reflect and think but here is what I came up with.

I can love God with my heartby simply spending time with Him. The more time you spend with someone the greater the relationship becomes. We love God with ou soul through the choices we make. (Boy have I made some bad ones this week but am I ever so grateful that I have been saved by Jesus ultimate sacrafice!) WE are not perfect (that is or sure!) but we can strive to make the right choices. Follow Gods word...THe word is truth and leads to a living soul for eternity.

We can love God with our soul by our actions...do we live a life negative all th time? Or do we try to have a positive attitude and be contt with the blessings God has given us?

Loving God with our strength means to love God withour "resources, abilities and time".
"Love Him with what our hands do...
Love him with our eyes what they see...
Love Him with our ears to hear...
Love Him withour feet to go...(wherever you may send me Lord...)
Love HIm with our mouth to speak...


Credit to:http://gregsimas.org/how-to-love-god-with-all-your-heart/

As I was writing this blog this song kept going through my head so I had to share it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek__Gdw9TOs

Little Seed

http://proverbs31.org/online-bible-studies/2013/08/07/a-message-from-lysa-terkeurst-2/
CHeck out the above link and watch the video to understand what I am talking about...

Wow what a great video message today!!! I was that seed! I felt like she was describing my life...I was comfortable in Ohio with all my friends since high school with all my family surrounding me..but called me this little seed to leave the "packet" and move to Arizona this "dark, messy place". I didnt know anyone I didnt know how to do the job God had called me to do (teaching). But God watered me and I grew..and he blessed me in ways I could never imagine. I had two beautiful girls in Arizona, I purchased my first home in ARizona, I made life long frinds I never would have met had I not said YES to GOD. Wow...God is so amazing and yet it is so hard to trust in Gods plan!

Overcoming Fear...

As I prepared for my next Online Bible Study.."Saying YES to God" I first prayed.."Lord let me hear your voice"...be careful what you pray for! I have heard the Lords voice as I read this book and I am doing my best to say "YES" Lord...but a big part of that is overcoming my fear and anxiety when it comes to change...especially major life change. 

I have been praying for years for an opportunity to move closer to family, especially after having my two sweet girls. But I always felt as if Gods answer was "wait, or not now..". I really felt that answer every time my husband would question why I would ever want to move back, or would list all the reasons why we shouldn't move away from all of the blessings we currently had. My husband's reasoning always made sense, and out of respect for Him I would never have seriously considered moving back since he did not feel it was God's will. However at the begining of this summer everything changed. 

A major change occurred for my husband..his little sister his best friend (other than me of course) got engaged to a wonderful Godly man. My husband has always been very close to his sister to the point where he knew a lot about her and her daily life. Once we moved thousands of miles away their relationship was not as close as it once was. Dont get me wrong they both loved each other and cared deeply but distance can cause division in a relationship, and when his sister got engaged that was the very first time he had met the love of her life. After that Mark gave me his blessing, he said "If you can find a job we can move back!" That is all it took to spur me to action but I knew it wouldnt be easy. 

Our first order of business was to pray...we prayed individually about Gods will for our families life, we prayed together, we asked others to pray for us. And God answered about what direction we should take...

My dream job became available at my former school and I applied and got an interview...that was the first miracle. There were thousands of applicants and out of all of those I was selected for an interview. You would think ok she interviewed and then got a job...oh no again it was not that easy. To make a long story short it was a 5 interview process and after two weeks, tears and a whole lot of prayer I found out I got the job. But to make matters even more complicated I found out this position was only going to be for one year...so we prayed and prayed. And together we decided I should take the job and we as a family are going to trust God and his will for our lives. 

I have been so fearful over this whole process, applying, interviewing, making the huge decision about whether or not to take the job. And then once the decision was made, moving across country and figuring out all the logistics within the matter of a month and a half time! But when it is within God's will he provides..things came together and although there have been many stressful tear filled moments we have been so blessed. 

Now I need to remember that God has a plan for me and through prayer and my faith in God...and the fact that I know God has my back I can get through the any moment that comes my way. These next few months are not going to be easy but I am going to choose to trust in God no matter what. 

Change

So much change is going on in my life right now. Just a month in a half ago I made the choice after much prayer, and discussion with my husband to accept a job across the country that will bring us closer to family. At the time of the decision it was very hard to make...I really wanted to make sure this was God's will and not my own emotions making the decision. Up until the job was offered to me I had not made up my mind but I vividly remember when the superintendent called me to say she wanted to offer me a job at Mason City Schools my responses was YES!. In that moment I felt confident that this was what God wanted me to do.

In a very short period of time many decisions have been made, many changes going on. And boy has the devil been trying to derail me, to make me question myself and the choices I have made. I have experience extreme anxiety and fear. So in this weeks lesson when asked to use God's word to pray for a specific situation I chose "change" and "worry". These are my prayers:

Worry
Dear Lord help me to stop being in constant worry about life, work, money, marriage, etc. You state in Matthew 6:25-27 "Doesn't God take care of the birds? Are you not much more valuable than they?" Remind me to look at the birds and not worry so much. Amen.

Change
Dear Lord you state that change can be good in Jeremiah 7:5 you state "If we truly change our ways we can live int eh promised land." In Matthew 18:3 "For those who change and humble themselves is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Help the anxiety I feel over the change going on in my life to diminish and to focus on your great plan for my life. Amen.

Although change brings about worry, I am excited about the adventure I am about to go on, and the things God will do through and in my life according to His great plan.

Pursuing Jesus

I have found when I actively pursue Jesus I manage to see Him more in my day to day life. I see him in the trees, birds, the people who just smile and make my day. I see Him in the little things like the slight breeze that cools the day down, or the fluffy white cloud that rolls by. In the last few months I have truly tried to actively pursue Jesus...to take time for him. Within the last few weeks I have really attempted to make Jesus a priority in my life not just an after thought. Through this daily time with Jesus I have witnessed his blessings and heard his still small voice speak to my heart. It is amazing how the word speaks to me as I read it on the pages of the bible where before when I would try to do my daily reading at the end of long day they were just words on a page that I felt obligated to read.
As of late I have been pursuing Jesus by saying a prayer as the very first thing I do after I wake up...I try to make it my very first thought of the morning. Then I have been opening up the word and doing my daily assignments as soon as the fog of my mind has lifted (I am not a morning person). I have felt such peace since starting to do this...
Prayer is huge in my life...I really believe in the power of prayer. Prayer is something that through the years I have found to be simple and something I can accomplish throughout my day. As I am driving or stuck in traffic...I can pray, when I want to just scream and pull my hair out, I pray for patience and understanding. Prayer is essential to my walk with God and my efforts to full out pursue God with a passion.
I encourage you to pray and to daily get into Gods work, It truly opened my eyes and amazed me when I started doing this. My spiritual goal at the moment is to continue digging into Gods word and taking time at the start of my day instead of the end to give it to God. Give God the best of me.

Martha v. Mary

Mary and Martha...I had never really thought about this story in depth until the last few weeks as it has come up multiple times in my online bible study. We have Mary who is enthralled with Jesus and taking in his teaching..Mary who is not concerned about the things going on around her...what happened yesterday, the stresses of the day, or what the future might hold. Her focus is on Jesus..isn't that where every one's focus should be? I have to reflect on that a moment and really ask myself "Where is my focus?" I can state right now it is not always on Jesus or his plan for my life..I let stress and worry and planning take over.   On the other hand we have Martha...who is busy planning and preparing and creating this meal for a KING! The time and thought that Martha must have spent in preparation for their honored guest! How often do I get put out when my husband comes home from  a long day of work to rest. How dare he! I have been home all day trying to take care of two small children and he rests when we have so much stuff to do? Ha...I need to be a bit more like Mary who takes time for what is important.   Instead of being worried about planning this and doing that I need to take time to focus on the truly important things in life. God, my family and friends and my health. I need to take more time to simply just play with my children not worrying about if the laundry is folded and put away, or the dishes cleaned. I need to spend more time with my husband simply enjoying life rather than stressing over finances, and decisions that always need to be made. Most importantly I need to spend more time with God. There can never be too much time with God. Quiet time is essential to my life at this point.   Saying all of this does not mean things don't need to be planned or accomplished at certain times. However the issue arises when it consumes your life as it does mine. I can't truly enjoy all the blessings around me nor do I let those close to me enjoy the blessings of the day either. It is always go here or do this, or we need to be there. My goal in the next week is to find a day to just let go...let everything go and just enjoy the blessings of my life.