Peace in the Storm

These last few years have been difficult years.  The circumstances in our lives have shaken the very foundation of what we believe and why.  Tough circumstances stir lies deep within our souls and bring them raging to the surface.  We begin to question ourselves.  Sometimes we question the commitment and love of those around us, and sometimes we even question God.

God has given me a picture in this season.  The picture originates from a story:  One evening, Jesus and His closest friends (disciples) decided to get into a boat and cross the sea.  Well, Jesus fell asleep while they were making their crossing.  While He was sleeping a violent storm arose.  A majority of His closest companions were fisherman and very familiar with the sea.  So, this storm had to be fierce because these men believed they were all going to die that evening.  As the waves crashed over their boat and it began to fill with water, they woke their Friend; their Savior, Jesus.  Now at this point in the story, many of us want to get frustrated at the disciples:  “Guys, really, don’t you get it!  How many times does He have to prove Himself to you before you finally realize that He is love personified and He will never leave or forsake you!”

You see His friends were looking at the color of the sky, the wind, the waves, the water in the boat… they were looking at every circumstance and making determinations based on those circumstances.  How often do we do the same?  When things get rough and the waves rise, and sometimes the storm gets so bad that water begins to fill the boat… what do we do?  We may question ourselves: “I must be doing something wrong?  Do I have some hidden sin in my life?  Is God mad at me (and it’s my job to figure out why)?  Or sometimes our focus is on others: “If you would just do this or that, everything would be ok (as if our “okayness” is based on someone else)?  And then there’s always option number three: i.e. blame God. “If God really loved me…; If He really cared…; He is in control of everything, right?” How different are we than His closest friends who could not connect to Him because they were too focused on the wind and the waves? Did you ever stop to think that  Jesus would not have rebuked a storm that His Father had caused.

I think all of life comes from one place… Him.  “Apart from Christ I can do nothing.” John 15:5.  Jesus did nothing of His own initiative; He did what He saw the Father do and even the words He spoke originated from the Father!  He showed us the perfect Christian life; the only one that has ever existed.  That life is one of perfect dependence.  So here is my picture:  The storm is raging with such intensity that it looks as if death is imminent.  Jesus is in the boat.  I can look at the wind and the waves.  I can even look at the other disciples and connect to their fear or anger or disappointment… or I can connect to the One who is perfect peace in the storm.  I can connect to the One who says “Peace”.  I connect to the One who is Peace.  Let us choose to take our eyes off of the wind and the waves and the others around us and their words and actions and discover Him and His truth in this storm.  He is the answer.  I want to lay down next to Him in the boat and put my head on His chest and listen to His heartbeat.  I want to look up into His eyes and know what He is saying in this storm.  He will either speak peace to the storm or He will speak peace to me while the storm rages, but whatever He chooses, I know He is always enough.

Let Us be Reminded of Our Treasures

I married young... 19 years old. Since Scott had more college under his belt, we decided "I'll work and Scott can finish college first, then we'll switch places."  Needless to say, he graduated and we found out we were going to have our first child.  I instantly became a stay-at-home mom and went to college for the next 7 years... one class a semester at night.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

I always had this feeling that I was putting my career on hold.  In the beginning of our marriage it was, "I'll sacrifice and you can get your education." Then it became: "I'll sacrifice so that we can give our children the best." Then we took it a step further... I won't just sacrifice for 5 or 6 years, but for 18 or 19 so that we can home-school and offer our kids an education designed for them by someone who delights in them and understands how God designed them.

Now I'm an empty nester.  As I ended that season of raising my children for the next, I realized... it was not a sacrifice at all; it was always a gift.  My career awaits... but my children have grown. Yesterday I could swaddle them in my arms; today they're adults, moving into their careers and into their lives.

So, you see... it was not a sacrifice.  It was never a sacrifice, but an opportunity.  An opportunity to be with some of the greatest treasures in my life.  I realize now that God knew that one day I would not look back and think of what I'd lost, but I would look at what I've gained... treasures that are stored up in my heart that can never be taken away.

Daniel and Erika have been and are some of the greatest blessings of my life. I am blessed that the last 20 years of my life have been spent with them first. I am blessed for every sleepless night and every day of spit up and later, wrestling over school work... because they were days... Some were hard, some were glorious... but all were days. 

Seize these days with your children while they are young, for tomorrow they will be adults.

Things Unimaginable

1 Corinthians 2:9-10  However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love Him— these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Ephesians 3:20 ‘Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

So… God is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or even imagine!  And… He has prepared things that eye has not seen and ear has not heard and (and not for my favorite…) things that have not even entered into the heart of man!

I don’t know about you, but this blows my mind.  This gives me permission to dream big with God and however big my dream; however big my request, He longs to do immeasurably more!

The orphan heart says, “You should be thankful for what you have.”  The heart of a son/daughter says, “More, Papa, more!”

Let us live as sons and daughters and continue to dream the dreams that God has placed in our hearts.  Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  I have learned that when I delight in the Lord, He is the desire of my heart.  Isn’t it great that He sets us up in that way!!! 

So when we ask Him for more… the answer every time will be “yes!”  Yet, the answer will always be greater than the request.  Let us dream big and then let us know with certainty that however big we dreamed, God will top that because that is His character; because it is His pleasure to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32)

It's Jesus.... period.

Sometimes God gives me revelation too deep for words.  I say that to let you know that this note will be insufficient as I try to explain what is in my heart.



I am in a season of seeking the Lord's will for my life in ministry.  For the past 19 years my first job (or shall I call it an opportunity) has been that of stay-at-home mom and then homeschool mom.  My second opportunity for the past 13 years has been in the area of ministry (this has been part-time because of my first opportunity); i.e. Christ-centered discipleship counseling and now inner healing ministry.  The latter included discipleship and inner healing for individuals, teenagers and couples, teaching classes and conferences, training interns and periodically public speaking. My first opportunity has just drawn to a close as my son and daughter have begun the adventure of life as adults.  I am now seeking the Lord about the next step in following Him.


In my mind I had it mapped out this way: Point A - intimacy with Jesus.  From that place I discover Point B - ministry, speaking, teaching, training, etc.  You know!  Go into all the world and preach the gospel.  Right?   Point A - Love God and Point B - Love others.

So, I was talking the the Lord yesterday morning and asking Him what this is supposed to look like.  I said, "Lord, I know that all things are rooted and established in You and I know that all things flow from a knowledge of You... I just don't know how to get from Point A to Point B.  I feel stuck in this place of knowing the things you have placed in my heart and not knowing how to put feet to those visions and dreams.  As I sat before the Lord, I heard His still small voice, "There is no point B."

You see, unfortunately most of us have not discovered Point A.  Most of us are too busy to posture ourselves before the Lord.  We want a formula, a plan, a principle that will help us get to the next place, but when we get there we will need a new plan or principle once again.  Jesus told us to seek first His Kingdom and all of the other things would follow.  But we don't know how to do that.  We don't know what it's like to seek God.  We are spending so much time doing life that we don't have time to spend with the Life Giver, Creator and Sustainer.

Remember the story of Martha and Mary.  We must remember that Martha was doing a good thing.  She was feeding the Son of God!  But she wasn't choosing the "one thing" (Luke 10:38-42)... really the only thing that mattered: sitting at the feet of Jesus; i.e. point A!

You see, Jesus is Point A and Plan A.  There is no Point B.  He is it!  He is everything and dicovering that truth is like a man discovering a pearl of great price in a field.  He sold all that he had just to buy the field... because he knew that he had discovered the treasure that was worth everything.

So where do we go from here.  We must find a way, a place, a time to posture ourselves before the Lord and discover the "one thing" as Mary of Bethany discovered.  As we discover the one thing, we will discover a rest and a peace and a joy and a love that will follow us into all of the other things of life.