A Deep Sense of Appreciation

In lieu of Thanksgiving and the reminder from Pastor Brian to never lose your deep sense of appreciation, I started making a list of things that I appreciate deeply :)

30 things that I'm thankful for:

1. The change of seasons and the different colors they bring to the earth
   
2. Creativity and the opportunities to utilize and display it
3. People who give me tight hugs
4. A God who knows my heart and tenderly holds my dreams with care


5. My parents who love me allow me room to grow (even when it's on the other side of the world!)


6. My sisters who will do cheesy things with me just for the sake of fun


7. Rain. when I'm in a car. in my room. sitting on the porch. the sound it makes on the roof. the sound it makes when the wind blows it through the trees in my yard. the feeling of security and peace it gives me. how it feels on my open hand. the droplets it forms on my window.


8. All the customer service/public relations people that have ever served me in any sort of way. ie: custodians, secretaries, waiters, airline attendants/pilots/captains, etc.--all airport employees, pastors, technology support people, policemen, firemen, teachers, construction workers, realtors, fellow stage managers, amusement park employees, cashiers, baristas, bank tellers, anyone who has the desire to help in the medical field--God bless you, toll-booth operators, leaders who take people's attitudes so others don't have to...


9. Film-makers: yes I do appreciate the entertainment. Actually, a huge THANK YOU goes out to everyone involved in the production of movies, T.V. shows, albums, etc...


10. Authors--I do love a good read


11. Singers and songwriters! what can I say--you guys change the world.


12. Friends all around the globe-thank you for opening my American eyes


13. My peaceful home--and my peaceful room that I can escape to when I need time alone with Jesus
    
14. The ability to drive somewhere taking 10 minutes roundtrip, which would normally take an hour walking...


15. A comfy bed and a squishy pillow. enough said


16. The encouragement to DREAM BIG


17. God's promise. There's nothing to worry about, because He won't back down from His promise. [Ok, well then--use me as much as You want, God, cuz I'd rather play into Your plan instead of trying to fit You into mine!!]


18. The word, "the." It is, after all, used quite often; and I'm not sure what I'd do without it.


19. The ability to retain memories [and for my camera that helps capture them in a physical form]


20. The Holy Spirit who starts the day with me, helps me make decisions, and is always there to hold my hand. I mean...who wouldn't want that kind of friend?


21. Water and air conditioning on a hot day


22. Cleanliness


23. People who take the time to appreciate me


24. The opportunity to learn new skills


25. Relationships that allow me to be myself
    
26. Music. and how it fuels different emotions
    
27. On that note: emotions! without them, life would be pretty dang boring


28. Beautiful scenery and all of creation; and those who document it with a brush, paint, and/or writing utensils
    
29. Sweets! [ie: Krispy Kreme doughnuts, SourPatch, Pop-Tarts, Cinnamon buns, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Buttermints, Cake(from Costco!!), Snickerdoodles, Fudgy brownies.....ok, that's probably enough for now]


30. The ability to LOVE. the love between friends. love for my future husband. love for my family. love for those who don't necessarily like me. love for those in need. love for the church. love for the individuals in a crowd. love for God. love from God.

Your Request is Granted...

Every 2 months or so, I get a terrible stomach ache that doesn't go away for several days. I'm not sure what it is or why it happens... Yesterday, I woke up at 3:30am with it again. Knowing that I had to be up at 5:00 for stage managing, I tried my best to get a couple more hours of (unfortunately restless) sleep. I was determined to have a good morning because I had been looking forward to working with the two other girls that were rostered on my team. Before I left, God put Matthew 4:23 on my heart, so I opened it up and read,

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people (italics mine)."

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Lately, the idea of healing has been really heavy on my mind. It is one of those things that I will never understand, especially when, like with my current request, I don't receive the healing I ask for right away. The questions that i ask myself are, "Do I really believe He wants to and will do this? Do I trust in medicine and worldly inventions more than I do in my Creator?" Whoa.

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After reading "...and healing every disease and sickness among the people," I just sat there on my bed in unbelief that the Holy Spirit would guide me to such a specific verse. he does it often, but every time I am stunned by His intimate knowledge of my current needs. An answer to my questions before is simply, "No, I don't." If I'm really being honest with myself, I can close my eyes and wish with all my might that my faith is as sure as the Canaanite woman's in Matthew 15:21-28; but there's still a wall there in my heart--and I'm sad to conclude that my faith has mainly been based on experience to this point.

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It is certainly a journey, but God is revealing new ways to extend my faith without sight of the end result. Through church, lectures, chapels, conversations with friends, devotions, and assignments--as well as the research it has provoked--has encouraged me to pursue a childlike faith. This childlike faith believes whole-heartedly that my Father wants to bless me; it believes that He is the answer to anything I need; and it believes fully in the promises of God's Word-instead of letting human experiences dictate my personal faith. What an honor it would be to hear Jesus say to me, as He did to this woman in verse 28,

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"Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted."

Born to be Wild!

I started writing in my journal for the day and ended up with this:

"This is what I feel like one of my main purposes is in life: To...INSPIRE people."

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I guess every time that I write poems, songs, stories, or just recount lessons that I've learned in my personal journal--my hope is that someday (even if it's after I move to Heaven!) they will be used to impact someone's life. God has really placed that desire deep within me and I want to continue growing more in Him and learning who He is; and fully experiencing his grace and love, so that my God-vocabulary is rich with clarity. In one of my New Testament classes, we were to share one or two verses that sum up how we have felt the call of God on our lives personally, and what the Bible has to say about missions. Missions-- that could be taken in quite a few different angles, hey? Well, I chose these two scriptures to explain my interpretation:

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1. In Revelation 3, John, referring to the church in Laodicia, starting in verse 15 he writes God's words, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!" Then you can sense his vehement emotion, when he proclaims in verse 16, "So because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Clearly, God does not appreciate lazy, complacent followers--it actually sounds like He'd rather you not call yourself part of His family at all! But chin up--He goes on to end with a positive note: that those He rebukes and disciplines are the ones that He loves.

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2. Keep that in mind while reading the last part of Mark 7:24, "...yet he could not keep his presence secret." I want God's light to be radiating so bright within me that I CAN'T KEEP HIS PRESENCE SECRET!!

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...So my MISSION is to live a life full of passion and zeal for Christ and be so overwhelmed and filled to the brim with His presence that I can't keep this Man, who is the answer to life and hope for the world, a secret! To live a life that inspires other people to get off their butts and serve Him with everything they have because He LOVES us...that's a cause worth pursuing!

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To quote one of my leaders here at college, "If you can't be a wild non-Christian, you might as well be a wild Christian!"

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Choose to be HOT.

Moolah- (n) slang term for $

Money, money, money, money...money! (go ahead-sing the song) Why does moolah tend to control every aspect of life? Can’t do this, can’t go there, I have to buy these, how long is my hair?? Ok, ok-I just put in that last one cuz it rhymed (but, I do cut my own hair now haha). God has really been speaking to me about sharing and giving with a compassionate heart. He’s referring to sharing food, the laundry room, everything else in the house, giving time, resources, smiles, money...


Here's a little story: Let's face it, it's frustrating to me when I reach for a piece of gum from my bag and then 5 people around me either see my hand grabbing the pack of minty goodness or it wafts up into their nostrils as I slowly and quietly peel away the wrapper. Dude, my mom sent me that Big Red from home; I bought that Extra with my own Australian coins! Alright, why does this kind of thing bother me? It really shouldn't be a big deal.

I came to a simple realization—that when something isn’t mine (like a new pack of gum left behind at my house with nobody to claim it..woohoo!) then I don’t mind giving all of it away, since it was never mine to begin with. God was like, “Briana, nothing on Earth is truly yours, so, like this gum, you shouldn’t have a problem with giving freely, cheerfully, and willingly to others who may need it more than you.” Whoa, wait a minute! I have a budget, things to buy, places to go, a stomach to fill…and you want me to just keep giving and thinking of others needs before my own? God, you're asking too much, right? WRONG. I’m blessed to bless others. Period. And guess what? Even if you’ve heard this before, you've read it a million times, been there-done that..blah, blah. I get it; I do, but check it out one more time:

“One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing crowns him who is willing to sell.” [Proverbs 11:24-26]

Did you catch that? When you refresh someone else, God will refresh you--Because you're not focused on trying to refresh yourself, God takes care of it for you. What a relief! I can write from experience that He will keep this promise, but you'll never know how He's going to do it; which is exactly what makes life so curiously fun!

Now take a look at verse 27: "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it." Hello! So, this is my mission: to seek good, not evil; and not to be a hoarder!

Sacrifice Releases Power

So, I really want to have at least one entry per month…if not for any other reason than at the end of the year to see every month listed on the left side with an arrow leading to a blog. It wouldn’t be complete if I skipped over one! But I keep putting this off. Why? Holy jeepers, it’s the end of JULY already and I have so much in my heart that I want to share. Maybe I don’t do it because I sort of have a theme to every day of my life and then when I get behind in writing about them I feel overwhelmed. Of course, I write in my personal journal, but not everything has to be public knowledge. (And not everything would be that interesting to you anyway) Wear your heart on your sleeve? Yeah ok, well-don’t wear all your organs on your sleeve (it gets a bit messy...). There’s just something about sharing personal stories and lessons I’ve learned etc. with other people. For me, sometimes I save the special ones so I can bring something new up in one-on-one conversations. If everyone knows about everything you’ve done with your life, then nothing will be refreshing; no more inspiring revelations to bring to the table. No light bulbs will be going off in their heads because most of the time, let’s face it, as soon as someone realizes they’ve heard a story before, their brain shuts off. And just the fact that they’ve already heard it somehow becomes the grounds for them to puff up with pride—like they’ve taken ownership of your story and no longer need to listen for the punch line or underlying message. Do you know what I mean? Maybe I’m the one with the pride issue, but I like contributing to conversations and taking people off guard when they realize I actually have something legitimate to say. haha! Did I actually just write that? It’s true. People underestimate me, but you know… I find that I kind of like it that way because I’d rather be the underdog than the arrogant know-it-all.

All that aside (albeit the reason for my general, not always so up-close-and-personal notes)…Encouragement that I have for you right now: A major change of subject, but this is what I thought of. I’d like you to ponder what you can sacrifice for the sake of others. John Richard Wimber put it this way, “Sacrifice releases power. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the power released.” Do you truly know what it means to think of others before yourself? Have you ever really tried to live out this way of thinking? I’m starting to grow more in this area of my life-not just because I’m off in a different country and am learning to live closer to God while I’m at Bible college, but because it’s exactly what He asks me to do. We’re supposed to be like Jesus and serve others with Him in mind. But hey, I’m not forcing you to wash other people’s feet, although if the opportunity arises-maybe that IS what you should do… I am just suggesting that you should do a heart check—perhaps a “where am I spending my money” check or “how much time do I waste on things that only benefit me” check. Die to yourself, kneel at His feet, and think about the power that He’ll bestow upon you when you willingly decide to give up your current desires. Practical advice: Do the dishes for your mom, open up to your family about your personal life, answer those emails the first time you read them, offer to pay for the coffee of the person standing in front of you at Starbucks, stick around to hear the real answer to the everyday questions you ask people, get a baby-sitter for a night to spend some quality time with your spouse, set up the chairs at church, sit down and make a list of all the people you told you would pray for..and then actually pray for them-daily. Just do something out of the ordinary for another person to make them feel special, stop worrying about what you can get out of life, and start making it better for someone else.