Embracing The Heart

My first “real” boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer two years into our relationship. It was a hard-fought year of surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation and sadness. It was a heart-breaking year of loss, let down and bittersweet love.

I remember--months after his hair had fallen out, months after his first chemo treatment, months after he lost all his body weight, months after I first locked eyes with a 5 year old hooked up to machines just to stay alive, months after our lives were rocked for the worst -- going out to dinner for the first time.

We went to our favorite restaurant, all dressed up.

He was wearing a hat because he had lost all of his hair and as we waited for our food to arrive, a mother sitting a few tables away began to make a fuss over John’s rude hat wearing skills at our dinner table.

She hemmed and hawed and yelled across the restaurant that her sons would NEVER wear their hats in public --in a fancy restaurant at that -- while others were eating. It was a mannerless act better suited for McDonald’s than the Inn we sat in.

She didn’t know John knew the owner of the restaurant personally.

She didn’t know that this was our first outing since his diagnosis.

She didn’t know that we had to wait for weeks for the doctors to okay this date.

She didn’t know that his life was upside down.

She didn’t know what he was living through, what we were witnessing on a daily basis, how sick he really was.

You see, she only knew what she judged.

She didn’t know what was underneath.

We left that restaurant as quickly as possible, so as not to start a commotion. As we walked past her table, her boys staring at John’s hat, it took everything in me not to tell her off, honestly.

John, embarrassed beyond belief, stopped at her table, took off his hat and said, “I sure hope your boys never have to wear their hats in public, Ma’am. Especially if it is to cover up their cancer.”

Her eyes popped open, her face turned red and she stammered an un-intelligible sentence.

I was so letdown that day.

Letdown we are capable of such ignorant ugliness.

I’ve made it a point since then to ask myself: do I see what is underneath? Do I notice those around me and treat them as creations of God? Or do I judge them by their outward appearance, instantly writing them off?

1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his appearance or at the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

I wonder today: is it the heart you and I have been looking at?

Walk out a radical faith today and follow our Father’s lead.

The woman collecting cans, she is loved by Him.
The teenager with baggy pants, God knows his name.
The store clerk who messes up your order, God holds her desires in the palm of His hand.

What will we do today?

I pray we embrace the heart and do the God thing.



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Kristen Schiffman writes at Exemplify Magazine. She welcomes you to check it out today!

Temporary Tissue Paper

“God would never choose for us safety at the cost of significance.”

–Erwin Rapahel McManus

I am mesmerized by tissue paper. I seek it out at every party store, stock it up in my pantry, fluff it up in every present I give and fold it up tight when I receive it.

I am, at times, more impressed with the tissue paper of a gift than the gift itself.

Isn’t there just something about polka dots, pink and paper so sheer you can see the world through it?

I think, in life, I’m mesmerized by tissue paper as well.

I get so caught up in the wrapping of this place — this earth — this one shot, that I often overlook the deeper, lasting gifts given to me completely.

I see a house with a white picket fence.

I see an office with an actual address.

I see a convertible with my hair blowing wildly in the wind.

And I neglect to look deeper.

Because again, there is just something about the polka dots, pink and paper so sheer it tints my world to a brighter hue.

I say, “I want to be like Christ. I want to know Him.”

And most of the time, that’s a tissue paper statement. It looks good, adds flair, is polka dot and pink.
It’s a Christian wrapping. A gift bag we present – perhaps with good intention, but with lacking conviction.

“I want to be like Christ.”

A dangerous declaration.

It means nails in hand, betrayal in full, hunger for 40 days, temptation that aims to take, the weight of sin, the pull of the crowd, the ache for silence, the sickness of a wayward world. It means suffering in righteousness and patience in affliction. It means the testing of faith, hidden glory, the taking up of a daily cross.

“I want to be like Christ. I want to know Him.”

A gift.

Hidden underneath the tissue paper of this life.

I want to be one who looks past the polka dots and pink. Who means it when she says, “I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.” Philippians 3:10-11

I want to live dangerously.

Not worried about tearing up the paper this present is wrapped in.

I want to forfeit my hold on the temporal so I can fully embrace the eternal.

I want to live dangerously.

How about you?



***
Kristen Schiffman is the founder of Exemplify Magazine. She welcomes you to check it out today!

Unlimited Power, Unlimited Love

I took a break from social networking for the last 10 weeks.

I didn’t think I’d feel much of a change but honestly, within days, my mind and heart felt clearer. I feel more inspired, more focused, more like....myself.



I’ve spent more time in the Word (where I belonged in the first place), more uninterrupted time with the people I love (who, honestly, I found myself missing for months now), my calendar is already more organized (though, that may just be because I did have two long flights in the last few months with nothing to do but write on them!) and my heart feels like it has come home (a great feeling).


I’ve been thinking a lot about what the Lord spoke to my heart a few weeks ago when I started to think of pulling back from all of this stuff and was feeling apprehensive.


“Is my power limited to 140 characters?”


You see, I was convinced that if I stepped back from networking, the ministry I am a part of would not grow. As if His power could be thwarted by such a thing!


Since I’ve stepped back I’ve seen growth like never before. All around, it seems, there is plenty.


I'm learning there is an abundance that comes from trusting Him. From loving Him.


Instead of trusting that what I’m eating for breakfast this morning is somehow going to captivate the multitudes.


It is so easy to fall into the trap of “keeping up with the Joneses”. We hear what we should be doing from all of these outside sources, we research extensively how to grow our blogs and ministries, we stress over it and work hard at it.


And I wonder what would happen if simply trusted God? If we handed Him our hearts and plans and hopes and dreams? What would we look like, as a collected group of women, if we stopped limiting God’s power to 140 characters and started taking Him at His word?


I wonder: what do we love more? Doing things for God? Or God?


Deuteronomy 6:3-5 (TM) cuts straight to the heart of the matter: “Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you're told so that you'll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.


Attention, Israel!


God, our God! God the one and only!


Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!”


Let this be our hearts’ desire.


To love the Lord our God will everything we’ve got.


To follow after Him.


To trust He knows best.


To hand Him our fears.


Let us be a women who with joyful expectation wait before His throne. Instead of waiting before our laptop screens!




Kristen is the founder and editor of Exemplify Online & Magazine. She welcomes you to stop by!

*Please know I have nothing against social networking! I just want to suggest we make sure we are doing it for the right reasons and trusting Him more!

Sammy the Seagull

A few months ago, my Mom relayed a hilarious story that had happened earlier in her day.

Apparently, she heard a banging noise at the front door. So, being the woman of the house, she went to investigate. When she answered the front door a seagull ran into the house.

From what I understand, he wasn’t invited in. Which, in layman’s terms means, he wasn’t welcome.
Quite shocked by the turn of events, my Mom screamed for my Dad, who being the man of the house, tried capturing the thing to save his bride.

I miss all the fun when I am not home.

The bird had flown into the front door, broken his wing, stumbled into my parent’s home, got chased out and stuck on a car roof all within minutes.

When my sister offered him bread in an attempt to build his strength (she loves animals, so much so she won’t even eat them) the seagull became all sorts of petrified and half-flew higher up onto the roof next door.

He wasn’t flying well.

And he was doing everything wrong. Without a wing working, flying higher and higher was really backing him into a corner.

I’m not sure where that broken guy is tonight in the freezing New York cold but I will tell you this, I understand why he did it.

You see, broken things will often look in all the wrong places for mending.

Sammy the Seagull did it.

He had a broken wing, was freezing his tailfeather off and decided someone in my parent’s house must be able to remedy the situation. Dazed, he walked on in.

Oh, Sammy. I get you. We get you.

Don’t we do this? We struggle with our emotions so we eat thinking that will make it better. We’ve never felt loved so we warm another’s bed thinking that will make it better. We hurt inside so we cut outside thinking that will make it better.

Only it never does.

And we become jaded.

At the first sight of bread, just like Sammy, we fly higher and higher. Away from the pain, away from the bread, away from the Only One able.

I want to personally testify our Christ is able. To not only heal our broken wings and feed us bread that nourishes; but also to restore.

The number one thing I hear from women, on a regular basis, is, “I want to know Christ and see Him in the day-to-day but I feel like I can’t. I feel far away from Him because of…” this thing I did.

Because I am broken.

Beloved, our Christ sees the beauty in broken things.

Remember 1 Corinthians 11:23, “The Master, Jesus, on the night of his betrayal, took bread. Having given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, broken for you. Do this to remember me. “

Remember Him today.

Remember, “This is my body, broken for you.”

This is Me, broken for you…

This is Me, taking on your sin…
This is Me, risen again…
This is Me, breaking chains…

Bring Him your broken wing today. Take His Bread. Watch as He brings beauty from the broken.

And then go on.

Do what you were created for.

Fly…



Kristen is the founder and editor of Exemplify Online & Magazine. She welcomes you to stop by!

See To It, Girl!

Growing up, I always thought I’d end up writing advertising jingles in a Manhattan high rise, latte in hand and high heels hitting the pavement.

I never imagined the Lord would call me into ministry.

If I am honest with you, some days the workload and lack of "real job" perks in ministry get me down. It has been a struggle for me to shake off my idea of what my life should be and accept God's plan for my life today.

The truth is I wouldn't trade this wild ride for the world. But some days when I am tired I can’t help but wonder...

Enter: Archippus.

We rarely read his name in Scripture (once in Philemon 1:2 and again in Colossians 4:17) but it is this man whom the Lord has used to encourage me to hold out and keep going.

Paul as he closes out his letter to the Church of Colossae writes:

"Tell Archippus:
"See to it that you complete the work you have received in
the Lord."

Colossians 4:17

And with those words, my God says to my heart: Do the thing I have called you to. See to it that you fulfill the plans I have for you.

Even when you are tired.

Even when you have plenty.

Even when you don't want to.

Even when it goes against the grain.

Even when you are filled with joy.

Even when you are offered other jobs.

Even when...even still...even then.

I cannot tell you how many times I come back to Archippus in this particular verse. I call it my "Archippus Prayer" and I pray it often!

Read that again: And I pray it often.

Why? Because I feel it often.

Today if you are feeling like you are not equipped for the job before you or are simply too tired to do this thing another day, I want to encourage you to keep going.

We only get so many days on this earth and every day our purpose in this place is at stake.

There is glory at stake.

Hear me again, there is glory at stake!

I'm want to tell you what Paul told Archippus (and what he tells me!):

"See to it that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord."

Beloved, "The one who calls you is faithful, and he will continue to be faithful." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

See to it, girl.



Kristen is the founder and editor of Exemplify Online & Magazine. She welcomes you to stop by!

Clothed in Majesty

"Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,

scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life."

Psalm 51:7

Busy cleaning the bathroom counter, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Magic Eraser in hand (a miraculous cleaning tool!), Clorox wipes at attention and my yellow broom at ease against the door I was struck by the ridiculousness of it all.

Not just the ridiculous notion that I, a self-proclaimed princess separated from her real family at birth, was cleaning.

But that I was scrubbing the bathroom clean while wearing silk.

Beautiful, pink silk.

Suddenly I thought, “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

At all. And especially not in silk.

As I stared at myself in the mirror battling my new found identity crisis the Lord whispered into the deepest part of me, “Why not? I do this for you.”

I stood still for a moment basking in the imagery of my Heavenly Father clothed in majesty washing me, one covered in mire, clean.

It took my breath away. It humbled me. It set my heart on fire anew with purpose and passion for His renown.

And so, in my pink silk, I scrubbed and scrubbed.

Aware of my Savior’s Majesty.

Awed at the thought of His Glorious Hands making me and you new.

The Lord reigns. He is clothed with majesty.

Psalm 93:1

Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

Longing for Freedom

What do you long for?

I wonder this as I watch people walk down the street, drive in their cars, eat ice cream –what is their longing deep inside? For what do they hope? Desire? Wish?

I’ve come to learn most longing and wishing has to do with freedom.

We long for more money because then we will not be slaves to work.

We wish for vacations because then we can escape the mundane.

It seems every area of longing is in response to our need to feel free.

I have never heard anyone wish or admit they long for more rules or laws. That is until I met David one spring day a long time ago.

This David? You know him too. He was the man after God’s own heart.

Check out his longing in Psalm 119:20.

“My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.”

Is it possible for us to be consumed with longing for the Lord’s law at all times? Totally intoxicated with his statues? Completely abandoned to his word and will for our lives? I want this.

I want this to be our longing.

Strange thing about this David. He wished for more of God’s law upon his heart and just a few verses later in Psalm 119:45 he says, “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”

Freedom. David longed to be told how to live because like most wishes it brought him the freedom he deeply desired. Except this freedom is the real deal.

Money runs out; our time here will end; vacations come and go, all of our earthly wishes will never be enough to satisfy our desire for true freedom.

Only following the lead of Christ does that. It is for freedom’s sake that Christ has set us free.

If that sounds like a bit of a mind bender think it through.

We have been set free to live free! Never again do we have to be harnessed to the grips of sin. Free to walk and long for His laws at all times.

While praying this last spring I saw a few of those white weeds that kids ‘wish’ with. You pick the little white puff of a thing up and blow, watching your wish run with the wind.

I recently read in my journal an entry about those ‘wishers’ (as I like to call them). My desire for that journaled day was to “upon every wisher wish for more of Christ and His precepts.”

Freedom to chase more freedom.

Living life wide open and carefree before the throne of grace.

David.

I believe he was a man after God’s own heart because his longing was rooted in chasing after the heart of God. He was free to pursue Freedom.

And wouldn’t you say Freedom set him free?

Ladies, let Freedom ring.

Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

His Goodness

"I long to obey your commandments!
Renew my life with your goodness."

Psalm 119:40

A few weeks ago my husband and I visited a historical church, The Santa Barbara Mission. We've been there a few times before and each time are captivated by the beauty of it.

On this particular visit, I was a little desperate for a touch of God's holiness. As a matter of fact, on the way to the Mission I was telling the Lord how I just wanted a taste of His goodness.

"Just give me something, Lord..."

At certain points during the tour of the church, there are prayer books displayed for visitors to write in. Each night those who work at the church look through the books and pray for those who are in need.

I read prayer after prayer after prayer.

There were many who asked for prayer for healing from cancer and sickness. Penning the struggle of chemotherapy and the weight of their exhaustion.


Still others wrote of the pain of losing a loved one and the need for comfort. Death had marked them and they were asking our Father for a taste of His goodness in the face of such pain.

I read further of marriages that were crumbling. Those who had written this, were asking for restoration. Again, a taste of our God's goodness. Believing in the One who is able to make all things new.

I cried as I ran my hands over these prayers. I prayed to a Holy God who I know is capable of anything. I'm still praying He showers those families with the power of His presence.

After reading through the prayer books, I wandered outside to walk under the trees and listen to the wind. I needed to filter my thoughts, pray for the broken and get a taste...

I found myself in an old cemetery.

No noise. No movement. What was meeting what is....

As we turned to explore a little further, Eric and I walked over to a final prayer book displayed outside.

It was written by a child. A girl named Hailey.

She wrote:

Dear God,
I had a wonderful time at your church. It is very beautiful.
I hope you have a good day.
Love, Hailey

And there among the pain and suffering, the old and new, the Lord gave me a taste. A taste of His never-ending goodness in the form of a child's prayer.


Hailey. She got it. The church? His. His presence upon it? Beautiful. Her offering to Him? The hope of a good day.

I pray with Hailey today.

Father, We are yours. The Church, Yours. How beautiful Your Presence upon us! May today -- and all that we do with it -- be pleasing in Your eyes.

Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

Access to the Excess

Deuteronomy 30:6 (New International Version)
“The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”

I’m the kind of girl who gets a paper cut and is sure gangrene is setting in. Perhaps it has to do with all of the war games I was subject to as a little child with two younger brothers. Or perhaps it has to do with the fact that when you have two younger yet much stronger brothers you live life thinking, “This could be my last day.” I haven’t quite figured it out yet.

What I have figured out is rather simple: I don’t like pain.

The problem with my deep dislike for pain is my supreme stubbornness. This presented quite a dilemma for my brothers during most sibling activities growing up. To this day, if one of my brothers bends my hands back in an effort to make me say “uncle” I would rather my fingers break off one by one than forfeit and whisper that dreaded word. I don’t like pain but I disdain losing more.

Hence my puzzling relationship with the Lord. You see, for years, it was my belief that if one loves Christ that one not only lives pain-free but also lives in constant scoreboard brilliance.

You can imagine my horror when sickness came knocking on my door and I seemed to experience loss after loss. Now picture my sincere confusion when I felt the Lord telling me it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn His decrees! (Psalm 119:71)

Deuteronomy 30:6 tells us, “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants…” The Message Bible says, “GOD, your God, will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts…”

A few years ago this verse was the motto of my life. I’d wake up in the morning and it would be running through my mind. I just knew something was being ‘cut out’ and let me tell you, the process was anything but enjoyable. So, I’d walk around with this knowing that something was being cut out but without the understanding of why I felt so uncomfortable!

It wasn’t until a friend of mine boldly spoke, “Kristen, circumcision hurts!” that everything began to click! How could I have missed that? Circumcision of the heart just like circumcision of the flesh hurts! Seriously intrigued I spoke this to the Lord and I felt Him nodding in approval. The process was going to hurt a bit.

The Israel of Deuteronomy had a stubborn issue just like me. Actually, again and again in Scripture there are accounts of God telling the people their hearts needed to be circumcised. Acts 7:51 pinpoints the excess issue: “You stubborn and stiff-necked people, still heathen and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. As your forefathers [were], so you [are and so you do]!”

Do not forget Christ is about activity. Any time we get complacent and stagnant He is sure to swoop in with the breath of His Spirit and begin actively torching house. I love this Acts 7 treasure, it’s almost as if Christ is speaking, “You stubborn girl! Stop actively resisting me!”

Which brings me to my next questions: What would happen if we actively allowed Christ access to the excess areas of our hearts? What if we dropped our notions of pain-free/touchdown dance Christianity and embraced Christ’s scalpel-like precision work?

I cannot beg you more to check out Deuteronomy 30:6 for yourself. The next piece of the verse answers our questions of why. Why, Jesus, are you cutting away the excess? Why are you allowing circumstances of pain to remove my stubbornness? Why is this lesson necessary?

“So that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” The Message version, again, speaks with such awesome accuracy, “freeing you to love GOD, your God, with your whole heart and soul and live, really live.”

I challenge us to lay down our pre-conceived impressions of who Christ should be and stop resisting the work of the Spirit. Let us with unveiled faces approach Him and in humility welcome His open heart surgery.

Speaking from experience, there is no life I would rather live than this life of devoted love in whole heart and soul. This is real life…not some distant idea of what it should be. Only Christ could cut the excess of my heart away and somehow manage to make more room for Himself.

I pray He will operate on you as well.



Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

What Is Success?

"We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps."

Proverbs 16:9

Had you asked me what success was 5 years ago I would’ve pointed to Manhattan high rises, daily train commutes and multi-million dollar deals. Had you then asked where I pictured myself in 5 or 6 years I would’ve stared at you like you were a little slow on the uptake and reiterated the beauty of a Manhattan high rise.

I’ve spent the majority of the past five years torn up inside over the course my life has taken. It is that daily struggle I’ve spoken of many times before. Everything in me with worldly ambition shakes its head and asks, “Kristen, is this what you really want?”

For five years I’ve answered with, “…let me think about that.”

Then the wrestling would come. The Lord would give me a firm “no” about moving a certain direction and set my course straight ahead. I would start to veer left; He would patiently wait and return me to the path. Ultimately, I would follow His lead but more often than not I would go wondering what I left behind.

The other day I was getting ready for bed, a hard time of day for me when I am going into a season of purposed writing, speaking to the Lord.


He spoke something to me that I couldn’t put into words if I tried. So, I won’t. Did you ever have a moment like that? A moment so holy, so God you simply couldn’t express it if you tried? I want us to have moments like that.

Anyway, He spoke something big, certainly not by the world’s standards maybe not even by yours, but big for me.

Honestly, that isn’t even the miracle of the night.

The miracle? My response.

It was my joy to serve Him.

It was my small offering.

The best I can do.

The most I can bring to this thing.

“Yes.”

A quiet, whispered, heartfelt,"Yes.”

What is success you ask? Is it multi -million dollar deals, train commutes and Manhattan high rises?

Or is it a feisty, independent girl on her knees in dependence before her Lord, heart in hand and life offered?

I don’t know much but I know this --it’s the latter.

Oh, that our steps might be steady, keeping to the course He has set.

“You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady,
keeping to the course you set;
Then I'd never have any regrets
in comparing my life with your counsel.
I thank you for speaking straight from your heart;
I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
I'm going to do what you tell me to do;
don't ever walk off and leave me. “
Psalm 119:4-8

__________

Kristen welcomes you to visit her blog {dancing} in the margins where she writes about seeking Jesus in the day-to-day, her deep love for cupcakes and the hilariousness that is The Office.

Meet Petey

We had nothing to do yesterday so, as all married couples do, we headed to Target. We needed a light bulb, a calendar, Eric needed a Caramel Macchiato – clearly Target was the place to go.

We walked around looking at random things. I gawked happily at the after Christmas clearance on sweaters and shoes and accessories, oh my! I’m telling you there is nothing like a Mossimo markdown.

Can I get an amen?

As we made our way to the checkout area we found ourselves walking behind a little boy named Petey. I know his name well because his mom kept yelling it at him.

“Petey! Petey! PEE-TEY!”

She was less than thrilled with his behavior.

I can completely understand that because he was knocking things over as he walked by each shelf.

I have to admit Eric and I thought it was more than funny. What his mom didn’t see (because she was walking ahead of the little guy) was that he weighed the severity of each item he knocked down.

Plastic container filled with potpourri? Knock it down.

Birthday decorations? Knock ‘em down.

Valentine’s Day wreath? Sure, knock it over.

Hallmark Cards? Who needs them? KNOCK.

Glass candle? Um…Pass.

Glass picture frame? Better not. Next.

Table decoration that looks breakable? Moving on.

Little Petey knew full well some knockdowns you just don’t rebound from. I watched his mind reason away the plastic knockdowns as okay because nothing was going to break.

But he would have no part in shattering an entire candle collection.

I thought about Petey all night.

I saw us in him.

I thought about a friend of mine who openly will tell you he believes there are different levels of sin.

“Some sin just doesn’t really count,” he’d say to you.

He’s a great guy albeit misguided.

But you know, I think we do the same thing. We just aren’t as open about it. We don’t want to admit that we think affair trumps gossip every time.

We weigh our behavior, quickly filing it into “plastic” or “glass” when really sin is sin.

We can knock over all the plastic things we want thinking the effects aren’t as far reaching as glass shattering but over time we’re left with nothing but a mess.

And a Father calling us by name, breathing His Spirit into our hearts, urging conviction and asking for repentance.

Psalm 19:13

“Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin. These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.”

Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

Moments

Yesterday was a terrible day.

For starters, the company we utilize for Internet connection greeted me with a connection suspension in the morning.

Why is that?

Apparently they took note of illegal activity through our router and didn’t want to take any chances. Of course, it wasn’t my husband or I who had done anything illegal. Someone had tapped into our Internet source and was on a downloading frenzy.

The company understood someone else probably was using the connection illegally but still didn’t want to turn ours back on.


Nice.

Especially when you work from home and have clients who are expecting projects in their inboxes ASAP.

Then I turned the kitchen sink on. Water sprayed every which way because the filter that was recently installed decided today it wasn’t in the mood to comply. No matter how hard I tried to get it off, the thing wouldn’t budge. My husband was at work so I had to do without a kitchen sink and clean up the flood that I had made from my few attempts to fix it.

This was followed by a gift I ordered turning out to be a piece of junk - a $62 dollar piece of junk. NFL Shop, I’m coming for you and thanks for letting me waste a nice chunk of change. How admirable of you.

Worked into quite an irritated thither, I began to feel the Lord telling me to sit down and read His Word.

I begrudgingly did what I was told.

I don’t admit that lightly. Truth is, I really didn’t want to. I was so worked up and annoyed I wasn’t sure I would be able to focus.

For the first ten minutes or so I couldn’t focus!

I just kept turning pages and whimpering about my bad day.

Finally I found myself reading Revelation 5 (that should give you an idea of just how many pages I absentmindedly turned!) and found my heart (and mouth) moved to silence.

No annoyances voiced.

No wants asked for.

No needs monopolizing my thoughts.

I just sat soaking in the Word written.

“And they sang a new song, saying:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God
members of every tribe and language
and people and nation.
You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on earth.”

I found myself singing a new song. Singing with the ten thousand times ten thousand angels who with voices loud encircle the throne and say:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth

and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.”

There is a dose of perspective for you. Revelation 5 paired against a failed Internet connection and mangled sink filter.

The Lamb slain up against my bad day.

Jesus Christ, the Worthy One, bidding me to come and rest with His Word.

After reading this awesome scripture set I thumbed through old prayers and notes on certain verses.
Still awed at the power of God’s Word and the majesty of His Name, still reeling from the realization of what the Lamb slain, Jesus, has made accessible and possible for us, I read a prayer of mine from October of 2006.

I remember feeling so broken as I wrote it, as I penned my heart to the Lord and yet as it goes on hope begins to appear.

About three quarters of the way into it, I asked the Lord,

“How could I, for even a moment, have not come to You?”

I ask that still today. I ask that as I allow the events of my inconvenient day to cloud my purpose in this place.

To bring Him glory.

To seek Him out.

To still myself and be quiet now.

This is my pursuit.

This is my plea, “Lord, take all of my moments.”

Even if you have to clear my schedule, through failed connections and broken appliances, to do it!

***


Kristen writes daily at {dancing} in the margins and also at Exemplify Online. She welcomes you to stop by!

Joy To The World!

I love Christmas music. I'm the type who starts listening to it in October and begrudgingly puts it away in January. On top of the holly-jolliness of it all, I love to listen to the words. To digest the meaning of each song.

This is especially true for me of old Christmas carols.

This season I've been captivated by "Joy To The World" originally written in the 17th century by Isaac Watts. He started writing music out of boredom with what was sung each Sunday at church. His father challenged him to write something better if he didn't like what was being offered.

Isaac did just that.

He penned many hymns but it is "Joy To The World" we are most familiar with. It was written after the last half of Psalm 98:

"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth; make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord; for He cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness shall He judge the world, and the people with equity."

My favorite part of Isaac's carol is "Joy to the world, the Lord is come..."

The Lord is come.

Isn't that the truth?

Our Christ is continual. He is come.

When our hearts are broken.

When redemption is needed.

Where restoration is offered.

Where wholeness is without limit.

He is come.

To free the captives.

To bind the broken.

To proclaim good news.

To release prisoners from darkness.

To bestow beauty instead of ashes.

As we celebrate the birth of Christ, His coming to earth, it is my prayer we would joy with all the world...with all of creation...

that our Lord is come.

And He will come again.

Revelation 1:8

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Merry, Merry Christmas!




Kristen is the daily author of {dancing} in the margins, her personal blog. She welcomes you to stop by!

Wild Savior

Following Christ is a constant learning experience. It never fails to astound me how little I know the deeper in relationship I get with Him! Over and over again He has taught me stagnancy is just not healthy. He desires movement. Growth. Travel. He wants my today to play out a little differently than my yesterday.

I was in the shower a few weeks ago talking with Him about random things (most likely the wonder of Starbucks) when I got into my crazy head the shampoo in my hand looked like what I imagine the Israelites would’ve used as anointing oil.

Stick with me. I know things just got strange but hear me out.

Staring at the thick, beautiful, volume-taming dollop of oil-like shampoo, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to anoint my head with oil.

Clearly I am the Lucille Ball of the Christian faith.

I had a moment of prayer, threw my hand to my forehead and…

Anointed my eyes.

I missed my forehead completely. Not on purpose, it was just that the “anointing oil” was so thick it slid off my hand due to its heaviness before I had reached my head.

With burning eyes I couldn’t help but crack up laughing.

Isn’t that just the way of our wild Savior? He shakes things up.

I think, “I’ll go to school, get a job, get married and perhaps bake a sale item for the church fundraiser when I grow up.”

He says, “That’s not where your anointing is.”

I think, “Okay, I will go into advertising and shine my light on the subways in Manhattan.”

He says, “That’s not where your anointing is.”

I think, “Alright, let me see…I will consult business owners on how to run their shops more effectively.”

He says, “That’s not where your anointing is.”

I think, “We’re running out of options here, Lord.”

He says, “We haven’t even started yet.”

I believe we often think we know better than Him. Don’t we? I know I do. The deepest struggle I have walking with Christ is the letting go of my independence and the walking in dependence.


Each day is a lying down of what I think my life should look like or how I feel my talents would better be spent. It is the thing that I most struggle with and yet it is the thing that most keeps me looking ahead.


As that shampoo hit my eyes and my laughter filled the bathroom I thought, “Nicely put, Lord. I’m trying to anoint my own head here and you won’t have it.”


“I am your Anointer.”

“Lord,” I whispered, “do you think you could…”

“I already have.”

“You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.”

Psalm 23:5

Kristen is the daily author of {dancing} in the margins, her personal blog. She welcomes you to stop by!

Socks & My Savior

I've got cold feet. And I'm not talking about getting married, I took that plunge joyfully.

No, I literally have cold feet. Our kitten, Roloff, has stolen all of my socks. Unless his little body managed to pull a boa constrictor move and swallow my socks whole; I've no idea where they could be.

I've searched high and low. Behind couches and under cabinets. In closets and out on the patio. The laundry room and the living room.

My socks are gone.

The interesting thing is that each morning when I wake up, there in the middle of the living room floor is ONE pair of socks.

Little Roloff seems to know ahead of time what I am going to need for the day. And willingly offers what I will need to keep my feet warm.

The Lord has really been speaking to me through the actions of my feline friend.

Sometimes it seems my need outweighs my have.

In those moments I search high and low looking for what I know I will need tomorrow and am always humbled to find the Lord knows.

He knows.

And each morning, in plain sight, is His provision for what I will need today.

"And my God will supply all your needs

according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

What I need will be here. Waiting. Warming me through and calling me on to further pursuit of the One who is able to supply all of my needs in Christ Jesus.

It will be there for you too.

Roloff laughing at my cold feet!

You are welcome to visit Kristen at her blog Exemplify.

Inside Out

God is doing something in me.

It didn't start at church or from an inspirational book.

It wasn't inspired by a worship song or a touching movie.

Something is happening deep within me.

Being exposed to a family from The Persecuted Church has changed my perspective and turned me inside out.

And yet it goes beyond this new friendship. I feel like God is wanting me to have more of less.

More of less: To simplify, every area; To reevaluate why I do what I do; My parenting, my motives, my schedule, my heart. And He's want me to give. More. Much more.

And it is uncomfortable and painful and emotional.

But it is so good.

And I'm excited about this new journey. I don't know how it will all fit together and I don't have a plan.

But I do have a command:

(My devotional reading is done in The Message Translation of The Bible).

Romans 12:1-2

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."

I live my everyday life for me. I always have.

But God is asking me to give it all to him, to take my everyday living and give it as an offering.

I think I have become very well-adjusted to my culture. I fit in without even thinking about it.

And this bothers me.

I want to stand out. I want my life to be remarkable. I want to lead my children by example. I want God to bring out the best in me, in my family.

The culture and it's demands bring out the worst in me: my desire to have more, bigger, better. My kids are stuffed into activities and valueless things and they will become professional consumers just like our society, if we continue as we are.

God is compelling me to place my life before Him.

Take time today to evaluate your everyday life. Are you a living sacrifice as God asks? Or do you fit perfectly into our culture?

I've never been more excited or more ready to be turned inside out!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, your Word is Alive and true! May these Scriptures quicken our hearts today. Help us to live each day, each moment for You. Turn us inside out. Teach us to crave more of less. Simplify our hearts, so that we can return to the basics of intentional living by loving You first and others second.
Amen

join Kristen daily at We are THAT family where she serves up a dose of humor daily and an occasional Hallelujah of her own!

Who Am I?

A few months ago I was flying from New York to California and was stuck in an airport for what felt like days. By the time I found myself standing within the confines of yet another line during my lay over in Chicago, my patience was wearing thin. We're talking Hollywood thin!

Directly behind me in line was a young mother with her two-year-old son. He was quite a sight. An adorable, busy little boy who wanted to know about anything and everything that moved. He and his Mom had a game they played to pass the time: "What Sound Does It Make?"

You are familiar with the game.
"What sound does the train make, Jeffrey?"
"Chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga, choo-choo!!"

They played this game for an hour and a half straight. You'd think they would've covered every single known sound in the universe at that point, but little Jeffrey only knew three sounds: The truck, the car, the train. Thus we endured through countless, "Honk-Honk"s, "Beep-Beep"s and "Choo-Choo"s.

You can imagine what this did to my already thin patience. Had the flight attendant not called my place to board, I would've no doubt "honk-honked" my way into solitary confinement after my lack of patience got the best of me. I was terribly tempted to say, "What do the travelers say, Jeffrey?" To which I dreamt he would reply in a whispered, rushed tone, "Hush up! Hush up!" And then follow suit.

Clearly if my identity in Christ was determined by my present performance, I'd be in some serious trouble. If my actions determined my heavenly nametag, we can rest in confidence, mine would read: Snappy Sister Who Robs Little Children of Fundamental Games that Exercise Cognitive Growth and Development.

Sounds like you need a Master's degree to major in that one. I guess you could say I had mastered impatience. Or rather, I allowed it to master me.

“For sin shall not be master over you,
for you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14

Impatience and I go way back. I know impatience so well it knows my Starbucks drink order by heart.

I have a tendency to think, “Well, I’m just an impatient person.” Scripture seems to think otherwise. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit, for goodness sake! Clearly I cannot just toss it up to “that’s just who I am”.

I do this more often than I’d like to admit. I determine who I am based on what my actions tell me instead of on what Christ tells me.

And Christ tells me two major things as I read Romans 6:

Sin no longer has say over you.
You are not synonymous with your sin.

I wonder what would happen if we started living lives that believed these truths?

What would happen if I stopped hiding behind my Impatient Nametag and started living out what the Word of God tells me?

The reality is that because of Christ Jesus and His Spirit taking up residence within us, this Hope of Glory, we are no longer under the rule of sinful whims.

I’m not saying we don’t truly struggle with them because we do!

I’m saying we have the authority in Christ to say to our impatience, “Not today.” We have the access in Christ to say to our Father God, “Help me overcome this thing.” We have the intimacy in Christ to say to the Holy Spirit, “Convict me when I step out line. Get my attention and lead me in the way everlasting.”

We also have a new identity. We are not what we did all those years ago, a few months ago or even yesterday. We are more than our screw-ups. What was is no longer what is!

We are able to grow and move toward deeper restoration. The Blood of the Lamb has covered us in redemption. What a terrible heartbreak it would be to believe everything else but that.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God,

the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.”

Romans 6:22

To read more from Kristen check out her blog Exemplify.

A Fine Feast

Can I get an “Amen!”?!?!?

Ok, that amen-calling may have been a bit premature. I’m just feeling passionate about this one!

I have not yet been married for a year and Houston, we’ve got a problem: my husband just doesn’t share the same enthusiasm as me for dessert. As a matter of shocking fact, I am honestly embarrassed to admit, some nights he forgoes a night-time snack all together!

He often says, “I’ve just eaten enough today.”

Or “I am full.”

Who? Says? That?

I stare at the computer screen tonight and think, “This is the man who when I suggested we play the ‘I'm-Going-On-A-Picnic-Game’ said he was bringing a sandwich, which is fine if we were at the letter ‘S’, but he was supposed to be bringing something that started with a “B”!” I mean, surely, all of heaven is aware I am the brain of this operation!

How is it then that he houses enough self-restraint to opt out of the dessert meal of the day?

And you see, when he doesn’t eat a delicious treat…it makes it hard for me to. When he orders a small ice cream cone, I have to follow suit! Because what woman wants to be seen eating an ice cream cone that puts the tower of Babel to shame as her husband enjoys a dainty sampling of the newest ‘cream at Coldstone? Tell me! Who!

When the Starbuck’s barista asked him for his latte size a few weeks ago and he dared to utter the word, “Tall,” ladies, I about lost it.

You can cross me in many ways before I speak up: decide not to partake in some popcorn, decline the fruit smoothie, simply shake your head ‘no’ to a vanilla pudding offer – but DON’T YOU EVER ORDER ANY SIZE LESS THAN A GRANDE AT STARBUCKS.

Dear me. My heart nearly gave out. And that was when I knew things were bad.

“I am full.”

Now, now, ladies. Before you go telling me we need marital counseling because something is clearly wrong with the Man, bear with me.

What if we lived our spiritual lives like this?

What if when temptation came knocking, smelling sweet and looking fine, we simply shook our heads and said, “I am full.”

Oh, how I pray when we find ourselves faced with that shiny, red apple being dangled before our eyes we will remember the words of Hosea, “All that party food won’t fill you up. You’ll end up hungrier than ever…you’ll be starved for God.” (Hosea 9, TM)

In those moments I ask on our behalf that we will say, “I am full.”

Because, friend, that is what we are offered in Christ Jesus. Lives that are full. Hungry stomachs that are fed. There is nothing wrong with being hungry – it is when we abuse the hunger that we begin to see problems.

Psalm 81:8-10 speaks to us today, “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly I would subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever, but you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

So often we look to all of these others things to bring us satisfaction. We are “hungry” but don’t realize Who we are starving for.

I want to challenge us this week to tell the world “we’ve eaten enough” of it and bring our hungry selves to the feet of Christ.

There is nothing He would like more than to fill your hungry stomach.

I hope as you drink your Grande (or larger!) Starbuck’s coffee, you will ask Him to meet whatever need you feel is going unmet at the moment.

Feast on His words and be fed!


Father God, When the things of this world begin to appeal to my appetite, help me feast upon Your Word! Still my hunger, fill me up and keep me determined to look to you for my satisfaction. I thank You for Your Spirit, who is at work in me and leads me ever closer to you. Amen.

You can visit Kristen at her blog, Exemplify, to read more of her writing.

$1.17 Love

Less than 18 hours before my wedding, as the clock was in serious countdown mode, my fiancé (now husband) Eric and I had to drop off a rental car at the airport and pick up our getaway car and a few other things from my grandparent’s house.

Rushing, rushing, rushing (because getting married is no joke in terms of a timeline) my Aunt offered to pick us up from the airport and bring us to my grandparent’s house for the things we needed to pick up.

With my Aunt was her darling daughter, my cousin. Rachel was the flowergirl in my wedding. Rachel has a rare love for me. As her oldest cousin, she is very taken with all things pertaining to me. As I write, her hand drawn artwork decorates my computer station.

Climbing into my Aunt’s car, I nestled next to my little flowergirl and smiled big. I asked her if she was excited about my wedding in the morning and she squealed, “YES.YES.YES!” She was undoubtedly thrilled.

That was when she extended her hand and told me she had a present for me. I was instructed to close my eyes and place my hands out in front of her.

Following her lead, I did as I was told and opened my eyes to find $1.17 in my hands.

One dollar and seventeen cents, in case you missed that.

I couldn’t contain my laughter as I looked at her sweet face. Rachel had just given me all she had been saving up.

I told her I loved her gift to me but thought with the busyness of the wedding, it might be safer for her to take it and buy something for herself. “That,” I said, “would make me even happier!”

What she said next still has me laughing.

“Thank you, Kristen,” her little five year old voice giggled out, “because I’ve been saving this to buy a car.”

Can you get any more precious?

What astounds me more is that her little heart handed me, in her eyes, the car she had been saving up for. To her $1.17 was more than enough to buy whatever she wanted. And she gave it to me.

I wonder today if we are as willing to part with all “we’ve been saving up”? I’m not talking about money here; I’m talking about our time, our talents, our areas of surplus.

Are we willing to hand all we have over to the King of Creation even when it is something we may not necessarily want to part with? How about when it doesn’t even seem like much?

I love the story in John 6 – the one with the bread and fish. We find Jesus here teaching to a hungry crowd. He turns to his disciples and asks them where they can buy bread for the hungry people and he is met with Philip answering, “We don’t have enough money to feed all of these people.”

Andrew notices a little boy has five loaves of bread and two fish but says aloud, “that’s a drop in a bucket for a crowd like this.”

Jesus takes the five and two and FEEDS THE CROWD. He takes all the little boy has, even though to many it didn’t seem like much, and feeds an entire field filled with people.

It is verses 12 and 13 that speak to my heart tonight,

“When the people had eaten their fill, Jesus said to his disciples, "Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted." They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.”

Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish, feeds the multitude and has food to spare. He has twelve large baskets of leftovers!

Whether we have much or only a handful, Christ is more than capable of taking our offering and feeding the crowds with it. Let us willingly hand over all we have to Him.

Take your $1.17 today and place it in His hands. Let Him bless our “haves” to the point of overflow in the lives of those around us.

I want to be like Rachel giving what I have with joy simply because I love.

I love Him. He can have all my hands can hold.

You can read more of Kristen's writing at her devotional blog Exemplify.