One Thing You Should Just Quit Doing

The past two weeks, I have written about making your life count and doing what God has called you to as a Christian, and what I am about to share might sound like a contradiction.  I promise, it is not!  Think of these posts as pieces of a puzzle.  They make the most sense when they are pieced together.  So stick with me and see that the pieces go together even if they seem not to on their own.  You just have to fit them together.  

Being a Christian is NOT about doing more or even being more, because...

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A WORKS BASED RELIGION.  

Its what separates us from many off-shoots, like Mormonism for example.  What do I mean by "works based?"  Simply put: There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation.  If it were possible, then Jesus would be pointless.  Jesus was not just one of the prophets, but the chosen Messiah, Savior to the world.  His act of love by dying for us would be nice, but unnecessary, if you and I could do something to get to heaven.  His sinless, earthly existence was vital to any hope we have at an eternity in heaven. 

As beautiful as each of us are, we are merely human.  A fact, as a perfectionist, I often forget.  I try to do a better job, and I can give what I have but like the fish and bread, it only feeds the five thousand with the miracle of Jesus, otherwise its just one boy’s lunch and thousands will go hungry.  Our best does the job with the power of Jesus.  You see, the reason Christianity works is because of one fact: 

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A RELIGION.

Technically it is a religion, but that is not its point.  Christianity at the core, is a relationship with our Creator.  Relationships change people don't they?  If that weren't true, parents wouldn't care who their kids hung out with throughout childhood and adolescence.  The people we spend time with begin to shape our character and personality.  The Bible says in I Corinthians 15:33 (NIV) - 

"Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character'."

Our world is experiencing another issue in regards to the lack of relationships.  People have forsaken hanging out with other people all together and now just living off of superficial relationships online.  We are seeing the increased depression as a result.  We were created to be in relationship.  The best relationship with can have is with our Creator.  That relationship inspires other relationships and true connection.  Something we need to thrive in life.  We become people who change the world for the better when spend time with Jesus.  

Galatians 5 gives us the fruit of the Spirit.  What does that mean?  Well if we were a tree, then fruit would grow from us, but our tree is rooted in God so the fruit that grows comes from the Holy Spirit, which is a part of God that is given to us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  The time reading God's word, memorizing it, meditating and praying, help God grow in us and it produces fruit.  Note: We cannot produce it on our own.  Trying to do better on our own doesn't produce the fruit, just frustration.  

Galatians 5: 22-23 (NIV)

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no Law.

We want to be people with these fruits, but it doesn't come from working harder at it, it comes from spending time with God.  As we do that, we are compelled to live out our purpose and to be people with intentional living.  It just a natural extension of the time with God.  So we really should just quit trying harder and allow God to transform us. 

Did you hear me?  JUST QUIT!  Dedicate yourself to God and allow Him to grow in you and grow you into the person He designed you to be.  Put your efforts into building the relationships that we were created to foster and thrive through and put away all the religion, do it yourself, nonsense.  It isn’t working, its just creating frustration and anxiety and who needs that?!  God’s got this.  Let him take the lead.  

Are You Really Doing Your Job?

Sixteen years ago, I remember going to see Erin Brockovich when it came out in theaters.  It was not just a great movie, but a great message and the fact that it was a true story, made it even better.   There is one scene that came to mind this morning in our church staff meeting that just resonated with me in the topic of our Christian walk. 

You see Erin Brockovich was tasked at her job in a law office to look through some old files.  In her time on the job she discovered a case that needed to be unearthed.  That led her to go out and find some more information.  The problem was her boss thought she wasn’t showing up to work.  He almost fired her when she was able to reveal what she found.   They thought because she wasn’t in the office, she wasn’t working, but the truth is she was out there actually doing what the job required of her, and honestly, even more. 

Too often, as Christians in America, we add church to our weekly calendar and continue on with life as if showing up to a church building on a Sunday is our job.  Some go further by becoming a volunteer or by tithing and others may even attend a weekly small group or Bible Study.  We get seen, get the God part of our life in and go about our daily checklist.   It isn’t wrong to go to church and do all the things I listed in the sentences above, but is that really doing our job? 

Matthew 28:18-20 - Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The church and more specifically, the building we meet in, does serve a purpose.  If life were a football game, then getting together would be our time for practice and right before the game, a pep rally.  But, the rally isn’t the game!  More is expected of us.  Some of us need to get in the game.  We need to be more like Erin Brockovich.  We need to be out there amongst the people if we ever want to do any Godly good.  How are we to bring people to Christ if we aren’t actually spending time with people who don’t know God?  Maybe we won’t be seen as much in “the office,” but if we are doing the job, isn’t that what matters?  I’m not saying we should stop going to church, instead I am saying that one act shouldn’t define our religious experience.  It shouldn’t just be about the act of going but the act of living like Christ in our daily lives.  

I’m not a tract hander outer, and while that works for some, the best way we can show God to people is by being with them and loving them the way God would.   That takes intentional living, not just going through the motions of the day to day but allowing God to lead you into the lives of people who are searching for a Savior. 

Action Point: Are you really doing what God has asked you or have you become a cultural Christian?  Take some time and seek God and discover what purposes He has for your life.  What He is asking of you? 

The Most Important Thing You Do Everyday

Do you spend time with God everyday? If so, what does that look like? If not, why not? Yes, life is busy and we have a lot on our “to-do” list, but how far in that list would you get if you gave up sleep and food because you were just too busy?


Being a Christian is more than a title, its a way of life. Its like paying for a gym membership, never going, yet expecting to be fit. Time with God is our oxygen for life. For me, I admit, I don’t always have that quiet time everyday. Some days its letting my phone read me by daily passages while I run around town, but that can’t sustain me on a daily basis! I need quiet, quality time with God.


Whether you are talking about God or people, you can’t trade quality time for quick sound bites here and there or on social media and expect the relationship to deepen or grow. Quality beats quantity every time.


This year, I am reading the Bible chronologically. There are definitely benefits to mixing up my Bible plan each year. Maybe you don’t read the Bible in a year, but its a great goal to work towards. Daily time with God is very crucial to our walk as a believers and if you aren’t used to it, starting small is beneficial. Eventually you need more. Brad Edgar hits the nail on the head when he says, “You can’t be a good egg your whole life. You either need to hatch or you will rot.” Simple daily devotionals are great, but they aren’t all we need. We need time in God’s word. Those devotionals stay pretty superficial.


We weren’t created for the superficial. We were made to grow in our relationships, with God, with others and with ourselves. It takes vulnerability to do that, and we are losing our ability to connect in this fast-paced, social media-driven society. A lot of us out there are rotting eggs. If this is you, its not too late to start over.  God says when its over (sorry fat opera lady), and as long as you are here on this earth, you have a chance at a new start with God. Knowing God means knowing his Word and allowing that word to permeate your life.


Monday, I took my daughters’ two hour nap time slot and just delved into God. I was about 3 days behind in my reading and I am at the beginning of the New Testament. Sometimes, reading chronologically can be monotonous when you reach a story told in several places and you have this major deja vu experience. Monday, I found it refreshing. Each gospel writer told a story slightly different and I felt the entirety of their shared experience gave me more understanding in what was happening and why. When Matthew’s account left me with questions about some of the reasons for why something happened, I found Luke or Mark would give more information to answer my question.


I had been struggling with some blog topics and how to even handle certain situations in my life and as I read, God just spoke to me. It was as if he said, "this is all you need to get the jobs in life done."  I now have pages of ideas and quotes and answers to questions. They aren’t all answered, but God gives us our daily bread. So my questions will get answered as I need them as long as I continue to spend quality time with God.

What Are You Doing With Your Dash?

I was recently looking through a jewelry catalogue.  They sold merchandise that could be personalized.  As I perused the back section, I noted a column of symbols that could be added to one’s medallion.  There was a variety of symbols: sports related, nature, animal, hobbies, religious, feelings related, et cetera.  People identify themselves with areas of devotion or likes and hobbies and use symbols to communicate about who they are.  

Beyond the catalogue, there are a lot of symbols in our world.  Symbols can be used on signs to tell you where to go, symbols can be in each country to signify patriotic allegiance - symbols are all around us.  Some symbols have more significance than others. A flag may hold significance for someone who fought for their country.  When I think about a cross,  I see two lines intersecting and yet, it speaks to a powerful sacrifice and gift for us all.  A cross is a life-changing symbol in my life.

Yet today, my attention was brought to another symbol that bears great significance. The dash.  Typically, I just think of the dash as a part of our grammatical library.  I recently listened to an episode of the Grammar Girl podcast all about dashes.  You can use it in some instances instead of a parenthesis or commas.  But where is significance in that?  The dash holds great significance in one use only - in between two dates.  

Yes, today, I went to a funeral.  I heard the stories and character of a woman, who had lived 90 years.  She did a great deal to make a positive impact on this world, and yet, her life is represented on her tombstone by a dash.  

Maybe we should be engraving dashes on our jewelry instead of a heart or fleur-de-lis.  It could be a reminder to make that dash count.  We should make each day count and live with intentionality.  Remembering the dash may keep us aware that we should put down the phone and play with our kids.  Remembering the dash may protect us from acting on the negative self-talk we hear in our heads.  Remembering the dash may motivate us to write that check to support a child in poverty.  The dash is not just our legacy but its perspective.  Life is a marathon, not a sprint and we need to let the small, petty things go and embrace those things that last.  

All life matters and I don’t believe that the quality of the dash equals the quality of the person.  I do believe we get one shot at life and we need to give it 100%.  So much of my dash speaks to the God I serve because much of what I have accomplished is because he equipped me to do it. What do you want your dash to represent?  If you head out to the cemetery, you will see a lot of dashes and yet all dashes weren’t created equal.   Some dashes were wasted by addiction or selfishness, others were impactful but in a cruel and negative way.  Other dashes brought about positive change or gave more than they took.  Some dashes were loving and kind, full of all that is great in the world.  Isn’t that the dash you want for your life?  Remember the dash and keep living, for one day your life will be summarized by two dates, separated by a dash.  

What God Can Do With A Sock?

Last weekend, I was up at Hartland Christian Camp to lead a seminar on Saturday during their weekend Women's Retreat.  I always look forward to the experience because I get to meet and hang out with a lot of great people.  Hartland always has fun activities and games amongst the prayer time, worship, and Bible teachings.  

As we were leaving the service the first night, it was announced that there would be ladies in the back handing out socks.  You were to take one sock, then find the woman that had your sock mate.  When you did, you were to talk until you found something you shared in common.  You could then bring your pair of socks back to the ladies with the baskets.  This exercise would earn you a ticket in the drawings they had going during our time together (I won a great succulent arrangement). 

 I grabbed a brightly colored, striped ankle sock, placed it over my hand like a mitten and began to walk around the room with my hand in the air.  After some time of finding no mate amongst the women, I headed back to the ladies with the baskets and looked inside; my match had yet to be taken out of the basket.  There it lay waiting for someone to grab it.  

I decided to camp out by the basket so that when it was nabbed, I could easily connect with the women who grabbed my match.  After a bit of a time, a women took my sock mate.  Then she spoke and I inwardly screamed like an excited teenage girl, because she had an Australian accent.  Even though I have seen a great part of the world, Australia is my number one desired location to one day experience.  As we began to talk we each went down our list of places we had travelled trying to find something we had in common.  Then it came up - India!  

India, while not my number one lifetime desired destination, is the place God has put on my heart to go to for the last three years or so.  My youth group has a map of India displayed on the wall where we meet so that we might pray for a city each time we meet, or choose a city that starts with our name initial to pray over the next week.  It has deepened my heart for this country.  

Lo and behold, my new friend, Janine, travels to India each year to two different regions in a mission effort to widows and orphans.  That is a people group I have a deep love towards in a region where I want to go, where I do not have a ministry connection; could this be a better match?  

We exchanged our socks for a ticket and got more than a chance to win a prize, we exchanged information and hope to connect later to discuss India and maybe even get to know each other better as sisters in Christ.  Who knew God could use a sock to do all that?! Okay, so I knew he could, but its still fun to experience. Thank you, God!

Two Things That Could Change Your Prayer Life

Paul tells us in I Thessalonians 5:16 to pray without ceasing, but what does that really look like? I will admit that there have been times in my life where that sentence seemed a daunting task. How does one pray all the time? As I have grown in my relationship with God, I can say, I understand that it is more about planning and perspective than anything else. Yes, we are to always be praying but when we are focused on Christ, isn't it easy and simple? There is a lot to pray about, the list really is infinite. It can at times become overwhelming and the overload can cause us to shut down. That is why a plan is so crucial for us to succeed in achieving a prayer life. Last month on my Facebook page I featured thirty-one days of praying for our kids. My mentor, Laurel, provided me with this list of spiritual qualities that the Bible says our kids should obtain. This list includes corresponding scriptures, and its been a great addition to my time with God. It really is too good not to share, so I chose to make a photo for each day of prayer for these qualities in our kids. That is one way to cover our kids in prayer, and the great thing is many of the qualities can be modified as targeted prayers for our spouse, a friend, other family member or even ourselves. Last spring, I got some spiral-bound index cards and fun pens and had the teens in my youth group use them for a prayer project. On one side they wrote a person or subject that needed prayer, and on the back they added bullets of ways they could pray for what was listed on the front. This is another great way to create a plan for your prayers. Another option is a day of the week topic assignment: Monday’s is our family, Tuesday’s is our church, Wednesday’s our neighborhood, Thursday’s our government, etc. However, you want to do it, is fine, but adding some order to your prayer life really covers more ground and ensures you aren’t forgetting anything. I also mentioned perspective because when we put on our prayer goggles, we see situations in spiritual terms. Tonight, after my whole family was in bed, I chose to walk some trash out to the curb to add to our cans for pick up tomorrow. As I was walking back into the house, I looked out along the street and it was quiet. I noted the absence of people out at that hour and I thought, I really should pray for my neighbors. Earlier that evening, my daughter and I went for a walk and I realized that would have been the perfect time to pray. Its seeing a walk as more than just a chance to get out of the house or get exercise, but an opportunity to bring those living closest before the throne of God. A simple act with powerful spiritual impact. That my friend, is perspective. Prayer perspective allows us to see beyond circumstance to the spiritual battle that rages on in the invisible realm. What would this world look like if we prayed with purpose? I can guarantee if each of us sincerely took our job to pray seriously, we would see some major changes in this world. Maybe instead of throwing opinions around on social media sites, we should be on our knees in prayer over the matters that matter most!

31 Days Of Praying For Your Kids

One day, my mentor, Laurel, brought a resource to me in our biweekly meetings that was (and still is) AMAZING! It was a list of thirty-one traits God desires for kids to embody and a list of corresponding scriptures for each trait.  Then one can take the list and use it to pray for one's kids each day.  It's great because if you miss a day, you can always catch it again next month. 

This was just too good not to share, so last month I turned each day into a photo and invited people to pray with me.  

Here is each photo, may this be a blessing to your prayer life and your family!!!

God bless!!!