Pure Goodness

I have lived on this earth for 28 years so far. I have learned some good lessons, some hard ones and I surely have more to learn. I've seen some good and bad along the way. I have been a great person to some, and I have let others down. I've been lifted up by great people, and I've also been let down by great people. This is the reality of our humanity.

 But God offers us something better. God offers us Love and grace... to accept, and to give.  I have learned what Grace looks like, in how God shows me grace in all of my sin, and in how through Him, I've been able to show grace to others.

 I never want to stop learning about these gifts of love and grace. I hope I never stop feeling them. I want to be reminded daily that God is always for me. He overwhelms my soul with His goodness and the way He satisfies me beyond any tangible thing or person in this life. His love never fails and even when I've walked through a pit of darkness, His undying love never gives up on me. His love is great. His promises are new each morning.

Psalm 103 says,

"Praise The Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name. Praise The Lord O my soul, and forget not  His benefits- Who forgives all your sins and heals you, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles."

I don't know about you, but I've been let down by this world. But the good news is, I don't have to let that define me. I want to hold onto a promise like Psalm 103. I want that pure goodness that comes from my father in heaven who so deeply loves me. I am His. In all of my shortcomings and in all of my sin, He delights in me and offers His grace. Over and over. He is good, when there is nothing good in me.

I know of God's goodness because I have tasted it, and He promises to never leave me thirsty.

"Praise be to The Lord forever! Amen and Amen."

- Psalm 89-52

Just a mom...

I have a deep love for writing. I am the type of person that will push through my insecurities to bare my soul through writing. It's like a therapy for me. Often times I won't write something or won't share it for fear that someone may disagree with me or I may offend someone. That will never be my intent in anything that I write. In fact, I truly hope to only encourage others through the things I write. The older I get, the more I am learning to trust God in every single area of my life. I'm learning to live my life with open hands. I don't ever want to hold onto anything tighter than God. Just like everyone else, I simply want to be used by God to make the world a better place. That being said, what I'm writing today has nothing to do with anybody's life or experience but my own and what God is teaching me. I have been encouraged so many times by others simply sharing their hearts, and that's what I pray happens as I share my heart today.

Our church is doing a series on family right now. It is called family camp and it is all about helping families to thrive in God's beautiful design for the family. Last night, as I listened to the teacher speak about what God says family looks like, I felt a little softening in my own heart. It's funny how so many times when we are in church, we are wishing someone else could be in the auditorium hearing this message that was specifically for us to hear.

I have been thinking about my own life and how God's word speaks to my heart about the family. One thing that stuck out to me was when the teacher talked about focusing on my own role. I have been married for almost six years to such an amazing, Godly man. The Lord has blessed us with two beautiful children. Yes, we are walking in God's design for family. The Lord blessed Marcos and I with great examples of why it is so important to build your foundation on the Word of God before we married, so we have started our marriage off on God's word from day one.

I was thinking how this message could speak to me when it seems like Marcos and I have done so many things God's way. It's funny how I thought so many other people I know need to hear this message. Then God grabbed my focus and showed me that He will always hold believers to a high standard. No matter how well I am doing, He will always have something new and exciting and beneficial to teach me.

I went to college and have a Bachelor's degree in Mass Communications, and shortly after I graduated, Marcos and I welcomed our first child and suddenly my life revolved around caring for this new, beautiful, helpless little child. We quickly learned that being a parent wasn't all just fun and wonderful. I've only been a mom for a little over three years and I have a lifetime to go. Last week in Pastor Tom's message he said that raising a family is the hardest thing he has ever done.

What God spoke to my heart was simply, "Mindy, I created you to be a wife and a mom, and that is okay. In fact, I am going to change this world by you simply being a mom."

I have days when I struggle with "Just being a mom". I fall into moments when I think that I need to be doing something more. I need a side job or I need to be thinking about what I am going to do when my two kids get into elementary school. I am laying out my plan of what important thing I will do in this world once my kids are bigger and I do something outside of the home. I have days where I struggle with thinking that what I do isn't important if I am not "at a real job where I get paid." I struggle with not wanting to be labeled as "A weird stay-at-home-mom." Terrible, I know, but I am being honest about my thoughts.

Last night God whispered to me that it's okay to "Just be a mom". In a world that puts so much value on what everyone else thinks about us and what we need to prove to people, I am learning every day to keep my eyes fixed on him. Last weekend when I watched my husband instruct my son on the baseball field and guide him on where he needs to go next and how to run the bases, I had a moment of "This is what life is all about". God has brought him and I together to love each other, love others, and to teach and guide these little children that God gave us and trusted us with. God has given us the Bible to instill His word into our children with love and discipline.

God has given me an amazing husband who loves The Lord, loves me, loves our kids, and loves others. I am realizing that being a wife and a mom is a very high calling with very high value. These days and moments that I spend with my kids and teaching and loving them are going to set them up for success as adults. I trust that God has a greater calling on my life and a great plan beyond just what feels good for me or what would impress others. I always have a plan of my own that is about me, but God's plan is other's focused and that truly is where my cup overflows.

I don't know what tomorrow holds. I don't know if I will only have two kids or if God will bless us with more. I don't know if I will ever have a paying job outside of the home or if I will spend a majority of my life taking care of my kids at home. Only God knows these things. What I do know is that He has given me a beautiful marriage that I constantly need to build up, to strengthen, to give all of my heart and love to, because this will be what affects my children most in their lives. I want them to have an example of Godly parents who love and respect each other, who revere our amazing God and who see first hand in our home that God created the love and stability of family for a reason. I am learning that the life I live for The Lord will speak louder than any words I ever say to my husband, kids and the world. I have a role in my family and in this life that is very important and esteemed in the eyes of My Lord.

Today, instead of worrying about what the rest of the world is doing or what is popular or what people will think of my life, I choose to focus on The Lord and who He has called me to be. I choose to love and respect my husband and always nurture our marriage. I choose to be the best momma I know how to be to my kids, and remember that in the moments when I screw it all up, God will be there to give me strength when I am weak. I pray that today we would all forget what the world says and focus on what God says about us and what He has trusted us to do. Also, to believe with all our hearts that His plan for our lives is beyond anything we could ever imagine. He truly wants to bless us beyond belief. Blessings to you all today.

What happened to love?

People in this world are hurting. People want to be loved. No, people need to be loved. Love may not make the world go round, but it certainly is the driving factor behind everything we do... Or so we once thought. Many of us have been hurt by people we love, so we decide it's not worth it to feel this little four letter word anymore. We've instead decided to live like machines. We have this beautiful, beating heart that pumps blood through our organs to keep us alive, but many of us have given up on what it really means to be alive.

We pull away from people in hopes that we won't be hurt anymore. We let these perfectly beating hearts shrivel up and die inside of us, figuratively speaking. We decide we are fine doing this thing called life on our own, and we stop caring about others. We pour ourselves more into our jobs and hobbies and daily work to "appear" busy and driven and independent so that others will think we've got it all together in our lives. We have lived for ourselves just long enough to believe the lie that we don't need anyone's help or we don't need to get too close to people. We don't want them to think that we need them in any way, because that would appear weak. No one wants to appear weak.

The new American dream is to have it all together, and to have done it on your own. The independent life looks good. To not rely on anyone else, is strength. But the reality is, that we want to be loved and share those amazing moments in life that give us a pure joy that we long for as humans. But, because we have been hurt and don't trust people, we allow our hearts to harden, with no relief of letting the good in.

We have placed our hearts in things that fail. We place our hearts in the hands of humans, who are capable of hurting us and leaving us alone. We decide that if we cannot receive the same love that we put out, then we will just stop giving it out. We will stop caring. If others don't care, why should we? We lose that light inside to do good and to love others based on how other people live their lives and their reactions to ours.

Guard your heart. Know that this world is full of bad and hurt and pain, but make the decision to protect your heart. A hard heart leads to death of a bright and shining life. If we are alive long enough, we see that people will rip each other apart. They will step on each other to get where they need to be. Choose to be different. Choose to lift someone up today and show them love, because chances are, they once had a perfectly beating heart full of love, but someone crushed it. Don't be a part of stomping out the good fire, but help bring someones heart back to life by showing them that someone actually cares.

It is very clear in our world today that everyone disagrees with everything we stand for. People are so different than us. Perhaps people are so different than us and disagree with all that we stand for so well, that our own hearts are put to the test. When someone down right throws your beliefs or morals under the bus, our human reaction is to fight back. If we can't beat them, then let's join them. Let's see who can be the ugliest and who can have the most rotten of hearts. Misery loves company.

I don't want a hardened heart. I don't want to live a cynical life. I don't want to think that people are bad. I don't want to miss the whole point of life. I don't want to overlook the goodness in all people. I don't want to hate people who are different than me. I will not be threatened when someone believes in something that I don't.

What I do want, is to love. I want to give love and I want to be loved. That is what the Gospel is all about.  It is easy to love people who are not a threat to me and who agree with everything I say and believe. It is truly difficult though, to love people who completely disagree with everything I stand for. But I am not doing this on my own. I am loving through a strong, Godly love that is more powerful than any love I could muster up on my own. I have placed my heart in the hands of a Mighty God who loves me completely and who also loves every single person on this earth just as much as He loves me. He holds the world, and every single person in it, in His Mighty hands.

There are enough people out there criticizing and pointing fingers. Maybe we need to trust God better with our hearts so that we are free to love more. Maybe that's what Jesus was talking about when he wrote out the greatest commandment in the Bible...

He answered: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself'."
You have answered correctly, "Jesus replied. Do this and you will live". -Luke 10: 27-29