Well, its been a long time since I last posted... and I think I now know why. I kept wondering with as much as I enjoy writing, sharing, and pondering on paper so to speak why is it that God has literally stilled my hands?
To listen more. To learn more. To read, to hear from His Word, from His people, from His music, from His creation... at first I wondered if I did such a great job? I thought if I had that I wouldn't be so taken aback by some things in my life right now, right? Surely He plants signs along the way, right? Or does He let things take us by surprise because if we knew what was coming we would be so anxious and panicked by what was coming down the road toward us we would be frozen in place? Yes, its a mixture in life of both - but either way He knows best. He works things together for our good. He is sovereign. He is orchestrating everything from before today, in this moment, and in days to come to accomplish His Will within the choices I make - be them good or bad.
And I do believe with all my heart all these things and more about my God.
And He certainly has been speaking - through all the ways listed above and more. I am amazed each day when I am available and aware just how sweetly He does this.
And are you like me? Sometimes when He speaks do you wonder, even though you are asking for Him to, 'was I really ready for that'?
9 days ago as I literally found myself face first on the floor crying out to Him with all that is within me for some understanding on what was happening in my life, as my husband quietly played guitar leading a small group in intimate worship, as friends around me sang and prayed, and as my friend Lisa held me in her arms, weeping with me with an equally broken heart for me and my pain, and as we both questioned "Why God?!" I clearly heard Him say "Daughter, loved one, worship me while you wait"...
At first I couldn't believe what I had heard, and I cried all the harder - how could this be??? God how can you say this??? I must be hearing this wrong - my heart and head both could not comprehend it - but then there is was again... His still and calm voice in my head and in my heart again saying "Daughter, loved one, worship me while you wait"... oh my God, what you are asking - its so hard, but then He reminded me of the hard things He has done for me that were asked of Him.
And so I do - I worship while I wait on Him to show me what's next, what the questions mean, what I should do... what choice do I have but be obedient? To do anything else will not bring peace, will not bring comfort, and will not allow me true joyful deep fellowship with Him or His people.
And He is Faithful - He gave me just a clearly on a day when I was faltering badly Jeremiah 32:40-41, and then when I faltered once again He clearly gave me Psalm 27:14... and when I shared them each time the response was immediate.
(I so always love that in each of our lives He is constantly weaving threads of truth that bind us to one another)
It is confirmation that the waiting is purposeful, that it will bring promises kept so sweetly, that I can stand on the firm foundation that He is I AM...
Psalm 27:14
"Wait patiently for the Lord.
Be brave and courageous.
Yes, wait patiently for the Lord."
Jeremiah 32:40-41
"And I will make an everlasting covenant with them (that's us!) - I will never stop doing good for them.
I will put a desire in their hearts to worship me, and they will never leave me.
I will find joy doing good for them and will faithfully and wholeheartedly replant them in this land"
Oh Lord I want to be planted with deep roots!
I went in search again in His word on this sleepless night for some peace again, because my flesh is weak... and my need for Him to reassure me was strong - I needed to crawl up in His lap and ask Him again, Lord, when will I know the answers I seek? How will I know when I need to turn to the right or to the left? That it's you who directs me? Lord where are my answers hidden?
It was then He led me to Proverbs 2:1-11 and sinking into a warm bath I soaked in this:
1 My child, listen to what I say,
and treasure my commands.
2 Tune your ears to wisdom,
and concentrate on understanding.
3 Cry out for insight,
and ask for understanding.
4 Search for them as you would for silver;
seek them like hidden treasures.
5 Then you will understand what it means to fear the Lord,
and you will gain knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord grants wisdom!
From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
7 He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest.
He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.
8 He guards the paths of the just
and protects those who are faithful to him.
9 Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair,
and you will find the right way to go.
10 For wisdom will enter your heart,
and knowledge will fill you with joy.
11 Wise choices will watch over you.
Understanding will keep you safe.
Oh Jesus - how I love how you love me!
So I will ask Him again and again for wisdom and knowledge, seek the counsel of those who walk deeply with Him, cry out to Him daily, search His word for hidden treasures, I will do in the mean time what is right and do it with integrity, and I will treasure His guidance.
What ever is on the other side of my waiting, it will arrive with purpose, I will be replanted in His fertile good soil, in His time, and for His greater Glory. And even while I wait and continue to worship Him, I am still a part of His great story :)
Waiting with Joy,
Marisa
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, April 2, 2010
Easter - You're The Story Too!
(by Marisa Lykins first printed Easter 2008 in Christian Family Magazine)
Envying Mary Magdalene This Easter?
We all have Ladies. Admit it, we wish we knew what she saw, felt, experienced. She was in the very presence of Christ! You’ve imagined what it was like, right?
Come on, at least once you’ve tried to…
Imagine how blessed she was to be a woman in His presence.
Imagine seeing miracles performed by a Savior you know can change more than the sight of that man, the legs of that child – He can change the world.
Imagine personally seeing YOUR life made whole out of complete brokenness by the one you call Savior.
Imagine being someone He enjoys being around, talking with, and sharing life with.
Imagine righteous anger at someone questioning His Deity as he stands with those who try to twist His words.
Imagine the pain of realizing He is being mocked, hurt, and dishonored.
Imagine the horror of what they did to Him, at His death, and the ultimate sacrifice He makes even for those who don’t believe yet.
Imagine being so excited and anxious as you contemplate His triumphant return that He told you about!
Imagine being aware that He is Risen!!
Imagine realizing all things are made new – He said it’s why He came!!!
Imagine realizing that this means you, yes even you, will be with Him for Eternity!!!!
Wait a minute… it’s not over 2,000 years ago. You’re you. This is today. You know every bit of what you just read to be as true at this very moment as it was that day she found the tomb empty and then beheld her Lord.
You know the tomb is empty, you behold him in your heart, your spirit. You see miracles every day though the lives around you he changes, in your own brokenness that He healed and make whole. You know righteous anger when others don’t see Him as the Son of God, when they don’t recognize or believe His Sacrifice. You too can know Him intimately if you want. He loves spending time with you. He loves talking with you. He has told you of His triumphant return and given you His Promises, are you not excited and anxious for them?
Then get out there “Mary”, you too can share with the world that you know the Risen Savior Jesus Christ, you know the Truth of what He did… you don’t have to imagine you’re part of the greatest story ever told!
Marisa Lykins
April 2008
Love89.1FM
Envying Mary Magdalene This Easter?
We all have Ladies. Admit it, we wish we knew what she saw, felt, experienced. She was in the very presence of Christ! You’ve imagined what it was like, right?
Come on, at least once you’ve tried to…
Imagine how blessed she was to be a woman in His presence.
Imagine seeing miracles performed by a Savior you know can change more than the sight of that man, the legs of that child – He can change the world.
Imagine personally seeing YOUR life made whole out of complete brokenness by the one you call Savior.
Imagine being someone He enjoys being around, talking with, and sharing life with.
Imagine righteous anger at someone questioning His Deity as he stands with those who try to twist His words.
Imagine the pain of realizing He is being mocked, hurt, and dishonored.
Imagine the horror of what they did to Him, at His death, and the ultimate sacrifice He makes even for those who don’t believe yet.
Imagine being so excited and anxious as you contemplate His triumphant return that He told you about!
Imagine being aware that He is Risen!!
Imagine realizing all things are made new – He said it’s why He came!!!
Imagine realizing that this means you, yes even you, will be with Him for Eternity!!!!
Wait a minute… it’s not over 2,000 years ago. You’re you. This is today. You know every bit of what you just read to be as true at this very moment as it was that day she found the tomb empty and then beheld her Lord.
You know the tomb is empty, you behold him in your heart, your spirit. You see miracles every day though the lives around you he changes, in your own brokenness that He healed and make whole. You know righteous anger when others don’t see Him as the Son of God, when they don’t recognize or believe His Sacrifice. You too can know Him intimately if you want. He loves spending time with you. He loves talking with you. He has told you of His triumphant return and given you His Promises, are you not excited and anxious for them?
Then get out there “Mary”, you too can share with the world that you know the Risen Savior Jesus Christ, you know the Truth of what He did… you don’t have to imagine you’re part of the greatest story ever told!
Marisa Lykins
April 2008
Love89.1FM
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Shaken Not Stirred
When is the last time you were afraid? Worried?
Last night at our lifegroup we began the evening just sort of chatting and IT quickly and naturally because of all the media coverage came up – what did we think about the new healthcare plan… were we worried? Afraid? How did we think it would affect us and our families? Then we easily got into the heart of our discussion based on the series our pastor has been doing this month – an unshakable faith.
Some of what causes us to fear something is sometimes known facts, but I venture to guess for most of us (if you’re like me and I think you are) it’s the “unknown”.
Isn’t that what usually causes fear to grip our heart? Keeps us up at night? Give us high blood pressure? Anxiety attacks? Stresses us out?
When was the last time you were really afraid? Is it something happening right now? It is a possible loss of a job? Your health? A rebellious child? A rocky marriage? It’s usually most often because of the unknown and because there are unknowns we begin to work through scenarios of just how bad a situation might be or become – and that always somehow ends up being on the “worse” end of the spectrum, right? We rarely imagine the best possible scenario when there is an unknown. :)
That’s letting fear decide what our perspective is.
We let fear and uncertainty convince us something will go wrong - if not that something is wrong - and that if it does go wrong we let it convince us something is true when it isn't, or that it will be very likely the most horrible thing that could ever possibly happen! Sometimes we rush to judgment and end up even taking someone else down with us in that fear and despair over an end result we cannot begin to predict or know!
It even causes us to decide to judge others situations, or what kind of people they are just because we know so very little about them. When we judge our own situation or others like this we made drastic mistakes. And the results? Well, they are anything but prayerful or discerning reactions. Fear of the unknown distorts our vision and our reactions.
Psalm 112:7
They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
Psalm 118:6
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?
Proverbs 1:33
But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”
Proverbs 3:24
You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.
Jeremiah 39:17
but I will rescue you from those you fear so much
Might we consider this thought… that whatever the situation may be in actuality or what it may become, and even if it does end up being extremely difficult and causes all sorts of fall out in our lives – that maybe it’s STILL not really all about us?
That the bigger plan may just be about someone else’s needs more than our own, more than about us – that’s even if it’s hard to get through that we are meant to serve someone else in the process that may or may not ever become evident later?
Can we live with that? We should be able to if we truly accept and believe we have a loving faithful God that is never shaken, is never taken, is never sleeping, and if we understand that Romans 11:36 is truth and is the release we need to be unafraid and have an unshakable faith in our God “For from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things.”
Marisa Lykins
Love89.1FM
March 25, 2010
Last night at our lifegroup we began the evening just sort of chatting and IT quickly and naturally because of all the media coverage came up – what did we think about the new healthcare plan… were we worried? Afraid? How did we think it would affect us and our families? Then we easily got into the heart of our discussion based on the series our pastor has been doing this month – an unshakable faith.
Some of what causes us to fear something is sometimes known facts, but I venture to guess for most of us (if you’re like me and I think you are) it’s the “unknown”.
Isn’t that what usually causes fear to grip our heart? Keeps us up at night? Give us high blood pressure? Anxiety attacks? Stresses us out?
When was the last time you were really afraid? Is it something happening right now? It is a possible loss of a job? Your health? A rebellious child? A rocky marriage? It’s usually most often because of the unknown and because there are unknowns we begin to work through scenarios of just how bad a situation might be or become – and that always somehow ends up being on the “worse” end of the spectrum, right? We rarely imagine the best possible scenario when there is an unknown. :)
That’s letting fear decide what our perspective is.
We let fear and uncertainty convince us something will go wrong - if not that something is wrong - and that if it does go wrong we let it convince us something is true when it isn't, or that it will be very likely the most horrible thing that could ever possibly happen! Sometimes we rush to judgment and end up even taking someone else down with us in that fear and despair over an end result we cannot begin to predict or know!
It even causes us to decide to judge others situations, or what kind of people they are just because we know so very little about them. When we judge our own situation or others like this we made drastic mistakes. And the results? Well, they are anything but prayerful or discerning reactions. Fear of the unknown distorts our vision and our reactions.
Psalm 112:7
They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.
Psalm 118:6
The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?
Proverbs 1:33
But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.”
Proverbs 3:24
You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.
Jeremiah 39:17
but I will rescue you from those you fear so much
Might we consider this thought… that whatever the situation may be in actuality or what it may become, and even if it does end up being extremely difficult and causes all sorts of fall out in our lives – that maybe it’s STILL not really all about us?
That the bigger plan may just be about someone else’s needs more than our own, more than about us – that’s even if it’s hard to get through that we are meant to serve someone else in the process that may or may not ever become evident later?
Can we live with that? We should be able to if we truly accept and believe we have a loving faithful God that is never shaken, is never taken, is never sleeping, and if we understand that Romans 11:36 is truth and is the release we need to be unafraid and have an unshakable faith in our God “For from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things.”
Marisa Lykins
Love89.1FM
March 25, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
a flash of yellow
This morning my own flesh screamed to stay in bed. Then it became my head, overwhelmed with thoughts to distraction for the last 24 hours or so, about the world around me. I feel caged yet the need to be alone.
But the obvious is the easiest to deal with. It's the less obvious, the deeper stuff that's the hardest to deal with when you can't even define it. There has been an underlying buzzing that has been working its way up, louder and louder underneath obvious layers... but what is it? Where is it coming from? Is it real? Imagined? It's driving me crazy I do know that. Making me want to pace this morning.
Finally I recognized it. It's coming from within. Within myself. It's my heart, my heart is working its way from buzzing into a full blown scream... to scream for relief from what is happening around me - it feels as if it it will burst!
It's not the first time.
My heart was screaming when my dad was lying with his hand in mine in the process of death, struggling to breathe, before he finally heard me say go home and breathed his last in my arms and the peace of God washed over me. My heart sang then finally!
When I first beheld the poverty of Columbia on my very first trip with Compassion International it was in the eyes of a young girl named Evelyne, telling me of being raped and beaten by an uncle numerous times, her fear, hurt, despair... then she sang me and the Compassion International team I was with her own song she had wrote about her Redeemer that she saw in the stars as she looked up each night from her bed while it happened and how He saved her, and how His peace washed over her. My heart sang then in that moment and the screaming stopped!
I know what I need. Him. I dig out my laptop and began opening my favorite sites holding Gods Word. Looking for comfort. I couldn't concentrate. Weird I thought, God's Word brings comfort, yes, but today I still felt like pacing.
Then I heard Him whisper, just sit and talk with me.
So I do and I start with the flash of yellow I saw two days ago in footage from Haiti I cannot get past. I cannot get it out of my head. A yellow shirt on a small body underneath the grey block 5 times bigger than her. My heart vibrates.
The grey is everywhere. Stone, mortar, dirt, sand, lack of life.
So much grey it hurts my eyes to look at it. How? Grey by its definition is a "lack of colorfulness", but it hurts, literally hurts my head and my eyes when I look at the photos and reports
Then that flash of yellow on the news video that caught my eye.
Yellow is such a cheerful color... sunshine, daisies, smooth sweet butter, warmth... my granny Reva showed me how to hold buttercups under a chin and see a reflection of that color underneath.
A little yellow shirt, so bright against the grey. I have not been able to get that little flash of yellow out of my mind. Its beginning to whine, my heart.
I wonder if she felt happier that morning just by putting it on. It looked amazingly clean and bright. Maybe it was new, new to her at least.
She looked size wise to be about 4, but size in Haiti in regards to age is not an easy thing to discern.
Malnutrition has made some children so small for their age, their development process very slow and off somehow.
It doesn't matter I guess in the grand scheme of things that I wonder about.
How did her day begin? You might say it doesn't matter in perspective to how it ended, but it does. How her day began, how every child's day began and begins in Haiti matters, as much there as it does for any child here.
I want to the flash of yellow to go away. I want just as much to never forget it. I want my heart to stop screaming. His peace is at the edges, I feel it like a far away outline of a huge bubble so I know its there. But maybe I am meant to hear the screaming for awhile longer.
The flash of yellow I cannot forget, never will. Her little body was silent and unmoving, grey too with the dust of the rubble on and around her.
That yellow shirt... had her mom or dad, maybe a big sister dressed her, maybe lovingly helped her fix her hair in sassy little braids of sorts sticking up all over her head? Were they alive? Did she die alone?
And my heart is not silenced at all - it is writhing as it screams!
But here's what my God shared with me as we talked this morning.
My heart still moves and screams because it needs and desires His comfort and presence, to be closer to Him in this time, and that is my own dance with Him... It is my Lord drawing me to His heart!
To discover His purpose in the goodness that will come of this is the continuation of the dance. And that takes time. How best to walk through something with someone than to hurt for them, with them, even past them. To be a follower of Christ means to follow Him to where He is needed and to see and feel as He does as much as we can. He feels the hurt, the pain, the loss, and as His we should too. Thank you that I feel you God - that you want to dance with me!
I just read a Twitter post that a baby girl was born safely this morning in Port Au Prince Haiti... in the midst of destruction, life begins anew, life goes on.
2 Corinthian 4:8-10 NLT
8 We (they) are pressed on every side by troubles, but we (they) are not crushed. We (they) are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We (They) are hunted down, but we (they) are never abandoned by God. We (they) get knocked down, but we (they)are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our (their) bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our (their) bodies.
My heart screams so yours won't scream alone, so that new born Haitian baby's heart will not scream alone, and so that other hearts may begin to hear and not remain silent for "them".
screaming in love!
Marisa
Marisa Lykins
But the obvious is the easiest to deal with. It's the less obvious, the deeper stuff that's the hardest to deal with when you can't even define it. There has been an underlying buzzing that has been working its way up, louder and louder underneath obvious layers... but what is it? Where is it coming from? Is it real? Imagined? It's driving me crazy I do know that. Making me want to pace this morning.
Finally I recognized it. It's coming from within. Within myself. It's my heart, my heart is working its way from buzzing into a full blown scream... to scream for relief from what is happening around me - it feels as if it it will burst!
It's not the first time.
My heart was screaming when my dad was lying with his hand in mine in the process of death, struggling to breathe, before he finally heard me say go home and breathed his last in my arms and the peace of God washed over me. My heart sang then finally!
When I first beheld the poverty of Columbia on my very first trip with Compassion International it was in the eyes of a young girl named Evelyne, telling me of being raped and beaten by an uncle numerous times, her fear, hurt, despair... then she sang me and the Compassion International team I was with her own song she had wrote about her Redeemer that she saw in the stars as she looked up each night from her bed while it happened and how He saved her, and how His peace washed over her. My heart sang then in that moment and the screaming stopped!
I know what I need. Him. I dig out my laptop and began opening my favorite sites holding Gods Word. Looking for comfort. I couldn't concentrate. Weird I thought, God's Word brings comfort, yes, but today I still felt like pacing.
Then I heard Him whisper, just sit and talk with me.
So I do and I start with the flash of yellow I saw two days ago in footage from Haiti I cannot get past. I cannot get it out of my head. A yellow shirt on a small body underneath the grey block 5 times bigger than her. My heart vibrates.
The grey is everywhere. Stone, mortar, dirt, sand, lack of life.
So much grey it hurts my eyes to look at it. How? Grey by its definition is a "lack of colorfulness", but it hurts, literally hurts my head and my eyes when I look at the photos and reports
Then that flash of yellow on the news video that caught my eye.
Yellow is such a cheerful color... sunshine, daisies, smooth sweet butter, warmth... my granny Reva showed me how to hold buttercups under a chin and see a reflection of that color underneath.
A little yellow shirt, so bright against the grey. I have not been able to get that little flash of yellow out of my mind. Its beginning to whine, my heart.
I wonder if she felt happier that morning just by putting it on. It looked amazingly clean and bright. Maybe it was new, new to her at least.
She looked size wise to be about 4, but size in Haiti in regards to age is not an easy thing to discern.
Malnutrition has made some children so small for their age, their development process very slow and off somehow.
It doesn't matter I guess in the grand scheme of things that I wonder about.
How did her day begin? You might say it doesn't matter in perspective to how it ended, but it does. How her day began, how every child's day began and begins in Haiti matters, as much there as it does for any child here.
I want to the flash of yellow to go away. I want just as much to never forget it. I want my heart to stop screaming. His peace is at the edges, I feel it like a far away outline of a huge bubble so I know its there. But maybe I am meant to hear the screaming for awhile longer.
The flash of yellow I cannot forget, never will. Her little body was silent and unmoving, grey too with the dust of the rubble on and around her.
That yellow shirt... had her mom or dad, maybe a big sister dressed her, maybe lovingly helped her fix her hair in sassy little braids of sorts sticking up all over her head? Were they alive? Did she die alone?
And my heart is not silenced at all - it is writhing as it screams!
But here's what my God shared with me as we talked this morning.
My heart still moves and screams because it needs and desires His comfort and presence, to be closer to Him in this time, and that is my own dance with Him... It is my Lord drawing me to His heart!
To discover His purpose in the goodness that will come of this is the continuation of the dance. And that takes time. How best to walk through something with someone than to hurt for them, with them, even past them. To be a follower of Christ means to follow Him to where He is needed and to see and feel as He does as much as we can. He feels the hurt, the pain, the loss, and as His we should too. Thank you that I feel you God - that you want to dance with me!
I just read a Twitter post that a baby girl was born safely this morning in Port Au Prince Haiti... in the midst of destruction, life begins anew, life goes on.
2 Corinthian 4:8-10 NLT
8 We (they) are pressed on every side by troubles, but we (they) are not crushed. We (they) are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We (They) are hunted down, but we (they) are never abandoned by God. We (they) get knocked down, but we (they)are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our (their) bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our (their) bodies.
My heart screams so yours won't scream alone, so that new born Haitian baby's heart will not scream alone, and so that other hearts may begin to hear and not remain silent for "them".
screaming in love!
Marisa
Marisa Lykins
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Think Again...
Got the list below in an email...
I added a little and tweaked a bit, but Truth is Truth!!
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...
Most people we admire in scripture didn’t think they could be used either. We remember that they were great men and women of God, but we forget they were in desperate need of him
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were told they were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah though of talking his own life
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer
AND Lazarus was dead…
What did they have in common?
Jesus helped, changed, and used them all!
He chooses the weak because in our weakness His strength is revealed
If you feel like everything’s a mess, let Him untangle the knots as you move.
You aren't the message, you are the messenger.
No more excuses – whatever He is calling you to He is equipping you for.
Don’t buy into the lies anymore - Listen only to His Voice of Truth
**Marisa’s twist on an unknown authors thoughts
I added a little and tweaked a bit, but Truth is Truth!!
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember...
Most people we admire in scripture didn’t think they could be used either. We remember that they were great men and women of God, but we forget they were in desperate need of him
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were told they were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah though of talking his own life
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer
AND Lazarus was dead…
What did they have in common?
Jesus helped, changed, and used them all!
He chooses the weak because in our weakness His strength is revealed
If you feel like everything’s a mess, let Him untangle the knots as you move.
You aren't the message, you are the messenger.
No more excuses – whatever He is calling you to He is equipping you for.
Don’t buy into the lies anymore - Listen only to His Voice of Truth
**Marisa’s twist on an unknown authors thoughts
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Perfect Man?
I received some of the following statements in an email forward after getting an earlier email the same day about a friend of mine who is struggling right now. She's a single mom who is so dedicated to her kids, her friends, her church, and her community and I thought of her when I read it. I also thought of several other ladies, some single some not, who have shared some things with me over the past few months... I tweaked it a bit and added a few thoughts. Ladies, this is for for you...
Dear Friend, if you are longing today, you don’t have far to look:
He is a gentleman – He never takes anything by force, and gives selflessly
He is a confident provider and protector
He is rich and powerful… He owns everything; and there is nothing He wouldn't do for you
He perfects all things concerning you
He anticipates your wants and needs, He has from before you were formed
Every day He tells you and shows you how much He loves you – Are you listening?
You never have to perform in order to earn His love
He keeps all of His promises
No one can influence His opinion of you – in fact He intercedes on your behalf and you have no greater fan!
He is the ultimate intimate partner – the lover of your soul, your creator and the only One who knows you inside and out
He can't disown you or throw you away, you are a part of Him and bought with a precious price
He covers you and doesn't expose you
And He left you the most wonderful love letter, unforgettable words of encouragement and care so you will never forget how He feels about you…
Wake up every day and greet Him in your life!
His is Christ Jesus, and His perfect love is all you need.
Rejoice today no matter what it may bring - The King has claimed you as His princess and His bride and loves you more than any man or anyone ever could!
Marisa
Love89
Dear Friend, if you are longing today, you don’t have far to look:
He is a gentleman – He never takes anything by force, and gives selflessly
He is a confident provider and protector
He is rich and powerful… He owns everything; and there is nothing He wouldn't do for you
He perfects all things concerning you
He anticipates your wants and needs, He has from before you were formed
Every day He tells you and shows you how much He loves you – Are you listening?
You never have to perform in order to earn His love
He keeps all of His promises
No one can influence His opinion of you – in fact He intercedes on your behalf and you have no greater fan!
He is the ultimate intimate partner – the lover of your soul, your creator and the only One who knows you inside and out
He can't disown you or throw you away, you are a part of Him and bought with a precious price
He covers you and doesn't expose you
And He left you the most wonderful love letter, unforgettable words of encouragement and care so you will never forget how He feels about you…
Wake up every day and greet Him in your life!
His is Christ Jesus, and His perfect love is all you need.
Rejoice today no matter what it may bring - The King has claimed you as His princess and His bride and loves you more than any man or anyone ever could!
Marisa
Love89
Thursday, August 20, 2009
I was wearing Jesus!
In the middle of 250+ children, countless moms, the deacons and elders, pastors, project workers, and the team I was traveling with in Ghana Africa, at the Galilea Gods Will Compassionate International Student Center… I, a simple 43 year old mom and wife, learned what it was like to wear Jesus.
Outside of Accra Ghana, as our team gathered to interact with the children who had been planning and anticipating our arrival for weeks, the energy was palpable.
After an amazing worship service together their eyes and smiles were so big as they watched us begin to set out our bags of toys and playthings down to arrange them. I remember wondering if their little faces might actually be getting sore from so much smiling - their little cheeks almost bursting!
The laughter, singing, squealing, and hand clapping was deafening as we pulled out the bubbles, coloring sheets, stickers, balls, jump ropes, and more! The children rushed up against me, against us all, making large circles surrounding us at least 7-8 bodies deep.
They were so excited! So were we!
The air was so thick, hot, and humid with all our bodies pressed together. The music started again and some groups began dancing . They LOVE to dance!
As I moved from one spot on the floor to another just to try and make sure I interacted with as many different children as possible they followed me as if their cloths were sewn to mine.
Suddenly what could have been have been overwhelming suddenly wasn't at all. Everything seemed to almost begin to move in slow motion and I felt calmness and a sense of peace in that chaos that was so surreal.
That’s how it began...
As things slowed I could almost hear the rustling of cloth against cloth as I moved through the crowd of kids, then the scrape of my shoes along the concrete floor as I moved back and forth. I looked down as I felt the small arms of a young wisp of a girl wrap around my waist and her small feet stepped up to stand on mine - just to be as close to me as possible.
I heard a whisper in my heart say "see, this is what it was like for me, to be surrounded by those who love you because you are you, and simply want you to love them the same way in return".
“What?” my heart lurched.
"See the child at your side, she has been waiting to just be able to touch you, for you to just be with her and show her you care.” I did see how she simply looked at me with excitement and expectation and I wrapped my arms around her and we swayed together to the drums. I told her she was beautiful and she beamed!
After we danced a while, I worked my way over to where the bottles of bubbles were and begin holding the wand up to all their lips. Laughter erupted from all of us each time the bubbles floated up!
The voice whispered again, “See there, there is a young boy waiting for you to really see him" I seemed to feel gentle fingers gently turn my head to where a group of children still sat in their chairs, not up and running around like the others. I saw a young boy with what I could only assume was cerebral palsy being held in his sisters lap – they were watching me intently.
As the sounds all rushed back as my eyes rested on that young boy. I walked over to him holding the bubble wand out. His big brown eyes crinkled up in the corners as he tried to smile at me. I held the wand close to his lips and he breathed out toward it as best he could, trembling with excitement… his sister smiled so sweetly at him then at me. I joined him in blowing into the wand and bubbles flew up! He jerked with joy! And when he felt the tiny bubble burst on his cheek that we created together his breathing turned to bursts of his own unique sound of laughter!
I laughed out loud too and Jesus whispered again. “See how beautiful? How precious each breath is? How much I love Him and how much I love you? So much that I orchestrated and wove threads of your lives together over 10,000 miles of ocean apart just to bring you to this place, at this moment, all so this young child could blow bubbles with me!”
Tiny hands reached for my attention again and I turned. As I reached out to pull all the children close to tell them of how much my Jesus loved them, what He did for them long ago, what He wants for their lives, it was as if I could feel His hands lovingly on top of mine, His arms draped along my shoulders as I hugged them… As I asked them if this news of my Jesus made them happy they began to dance with joy and pulled me along with them.
That voice sweetly said “See? Through you I love them, I touch them, I play with them and I dance with them, and through them I love you, touch you, and dance with you my daughter”
Oh my word, I was wearing Jesus!
See the thing is, we can make a choice every day at any given moment whether or not to put on Jesus. Like the softest of sweaters we can see with His eyes, touch with His hands, serve with His heart, dance with Him... He’s already there, waiting.
Oh how I want to wear Jesus!
Monday, August 10, 2009
All I Can Say Is Beautiful!
We serve a beautiful God who could weave a thread across and ocean to bind the lives of an African child to mine... Todd and I just became mom & dad again with the help of Compassion International! Meet my Bernard and his sweet sister Beneditta from Ghana!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Lucy
Day 2 continued - Lucy walks home from the Compassion Project long dirt roads. A beautiful girl with a shy smile who passes street after street lined with adults and kids alike in need, looking for hope. She passes a man selling third hand shoes that he found in the dump to earn a living. She keeps her head up though. She passes a building falling in on itself that holds a make shift market stand where a woman sells soup to take care of her family - selling it to those who have nothing to cook soup on... no big silver pot to place over an open flame for them or they would try to eek out a living too.
Lucy walks on, gingerly stepping on stones over the open sewer stream that runs where a street used to be a few years ago. That sewer stream leads to a small lot with a three walled room where she and her family crowd into to sit, and escape the midday sun, and simply be a family.
Did I mention her family consists of Lucy, her dad, her stepsister an brother, her grandmother and great grandmother, who cares for them all while the dad makes $1.50 a day to fish on another mans boat. That is their income - when the fishing is good that is. It not right now. Both previous wives walked away from this family. Did I mention they have to buy undeground water because they have none in the home? Did I also mention that everytime it rains it foods the three walled concrete floor with that sewer waste we so carefully stepped around and over to visit her home? And that they need rain though to grow food? And that they asked us to pray about both????
Did I mention Lucy has hope because each day when she walks home its from the local Compassion Project where she has just been fed, looked after, educated, and loved on by men and women who love Jesus and want to make sure Lucy has every opportunity to know and love Him too?
to sponsor a child log on now to love89.org and click the link on the bottom left!
Marisa
Lucy walks on, gingerly stepping on stones over the open sewer stream that runs where a street used to be a few years ago. That sewer stream leads to a small lot with a three walled room where she and her family crowd into to sit, and escape the midday sun, and simply be a family.
Did I mention her family consists of Lucy, her dad, her stepsister an brother, her grandmother and great grandmother, who cares for them all while the dad makes $1.50 a day to fish on another mans boat. That is their income - when the fishing is good that is. It not right now. Both previous wives walked away from this family. Did I mention they have to buy undeground water because they have none in the home? Did I also mention that everytime it rains it foods the three walled concrete floor with that sewer waste we so carefully stepped around and over to visit her home? And that they need rain though to grow food? And that they asked us to pray about both????
Did I mention Lucy has hope because each day when she walks home its from the local Compassion Project where she has just been fed, looked after, educated, and loved on by men and women who love Jesus and want to make sure Lucy has every opportunity to know and love Him too?
to sponsor a child log on now to love89.org and click the link on the bottom left!
Marisa
Friday, August 7, 2009
My Africa?
After quite the ordeal to get here that meant our finally plane left JFK 3 hours late and with a whole new brake system... I was strangely very calm about.
I arrive in the capital of Ghana. Standing in the rundown airport, with it's odd odors, the airport staff wearing facial masks to ward of the swine flu germs and Lord knows what else floating around, people from so many places, going to so many places, and bits of languages I do no understand in the least... I am still strangely calm.
After sitting in a shuttle van for almost an hour crammed full of most of our team and luggage alone in the parking lot in strange country waiting on our team leader who was inside the airport with 2 whose luggage did not make it... I am again, calm.
Check in. Lunch. An unexpected chance to go ahead and visit a Christian school outside Accra with Dr John of the Ashanti Tribe & Rev Harry Thomas of the states (the two men have been friends for 20 years & with Gods divine vision obediently birthed this school to sit right smack dab in the middle of a Muslim Community!).
I met the head mistress (helping run this school since its inception, she is 60 years old now with the most beautiful skin and smile and laugh.
The ride from there to the top of a mountain Dr John wanted us to see took us through villages and towns with an assault on my senses - smells, sights, sounds, potholes that could swallow small cars, the haves and the have nothings living side by side along the way... not only am I calm... I feel at home.
What does this mean? I think it means that the next few days of my Compassion International Trip that has brought me to this strange and wonderful place I have somehow yearned for will contain untold assaults on my other senses, the more important ones - my spiritual eyes and ears, my heart, and my soul... I can't wait to see what God will reveal here in Ghana~
Marisa
Love89
I arrive in the capital of Ghana. Standing in the rundown airport, with it's odd odors, the airport staff wearing facial masks to ward of the swine flu germs and Lord knows what else floating around, people from so many places, going to so many places, and bits of languages I do no understand in the least... I am still strangely calm.
After sitting in a shuttle van for almost an hour crammed full of most of our team and luggage alone in the parking lot in strange country waiting on our team leader who was inside the airport with 2 whose luggage did not make it... I am again, calm.
Check in. Lunch. An unexpected chance to go ahead and visit a Christian school outside Accra with Dr John of the Ashanti Tribe & Rev Harry Thomas of the states (the two men have been friends for 20 years & with Gods divine vision obediently birthed this school to sit right smack dab in the middle of a Muslim Community!).
I met the head mistress (helping run this school since its inception, she is 60 years old now with the most beautiful skin and smile and laugh.
The ride from there to the top of a mountain Dr John wanted us to see took us through villages and towns with an assault on my senses - smells, sights, sounds, potholes that could swallow small cars, the haves and the have nothings living side by side along the way... not only am I calm... I feel at home.
What does this mean? I think it means that the next few days of my Compassion International Trip that has brought me to this strange and wonderful place I have somehow yearned for will contain untold assaults on my other senses, the more important ones - my spiritual eyes and ears, my heart, and my soul... I can't wait to see what God will reveal here in Ghana~
Marisa
Love89
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