The Range of God’s Power

Thanks, God, for the little things

You hold up the heavens

and prevent endless dangers

that we don’t even know to thank you for

You are still in the miracle business

and heal cancer

You are still in the life changing business

and let little actions change lives

a random thought

a random meeting

a random cloud

all of these have changed my life

except they aren’t random

they are perfectly, lovingly placed

by You.

I wonder at Your creative power

in the sunset sky

I wonder at Your abounding love

washing dusty feet

I wonder at your wisdom

in Your Word

but I also wonder

at how you keep the stars aligned

and still listen to my small prayers

You answer my cries for peace

as well as my asking for wisdom on my english quiz

You answer my prayer for healing

as well as my prayer about not being late

The range of Your love

astounds me

Pixabay/user:Hans

Prayer Request

I know this blog is normally a creative outlet and a place where Christianity, poetry, super-heroes, and thoughts are shared, but this post is different. I have 293 followers and I would like to use you to help for something very important.

Please pray. Please pray for my friend’s great niece who is only seven years old and was diagnosed with Leukemia on Friday. The doctors think that they caught the cancer early and the girl — Emma Lockhart — has been healthy up to this point so that should help with her treatment. She has already started chemotherapy and is doing well. When my friend asked if she could do anything to help, the girl’s mom said that she wanted to yell from the hilltops for prayer, so my friend said that she would tell everyone she knew to pray. Please pray.

Dear Lord, give this family and especially Emma Your strength. Give them Your peace that surpasses understanding. Be their light during their of darkness. Comfort them and let them feel your presence. Guide the doctors and the nurses and all the health care professionals in making decisions and treating Emma. 

We know that everything works accordingly for the good of those who love You and though this is not good, You can make it good. Lord, we only see tangled threads of life, but You see the big picture. Bless this family and work Your will in their lives. 

Keep this family’s focus on You for You are the master miracle worker. Heal Emma and help her in her treatment. Thank You for medical advances that can save this girl’s life, but thank You most importantly for being a caring God and working in our lives. Please work in this girl’s life, save her. In Your words we put our hope and trust. Amen.

Dependency

My most hated type of prayers are also my favorite type of prayers. The prayers of when I completely fall apart. The prayers of when I crumble, but God is there to pick up the pieces. The prayers of when the world seems too big to understand. My favorite and most hated is when I pray out loud to God in utter helplessness. These are so desperate, so needed, so real, so authentic. Even though my head feels three sizing too small, my soul feels like just enough.

My most hated prayer is when I give everything over to God in dependency.

My favorite prayer is when I give everything over to God in dependency.

Dependency is so hard, to let go, to let someone else take control even if they are more capable, to acknowledge it cannot be done alone.

To be dependent is more than just to put complete trust in someone or something. To be dependent is like allowing yourself to drown because you know the lifeguard will save you. In those horrible moments of panic, all you can think about is how to save yourself, not about the lifeguard diving in to rescue you. You keep thinking about the water you swallowed, fighting to keep afloat and how scary the water just became after a few seconds. Eventually when the lifeguard does come to save you, you fight him because in those moments of panic you still believe that you are more capable.

When my uncle was training to become a State Policeman, he had to save someone from drowning as a training exercise. The first time my uncle tried to save the person who was pretending to drown, my uncle almost drown trying to save him because he was fighting him so much. So when my uncle had to try again the next time, he swam right out and knocked out the man pretending to drown so that he would not fight my uncle.

When Jesus is trying to reach out and save us, we sometimes fight him believing that we are big boys and girls and can do it all by ourselves. We can’t.

When the divorce papers are on the table, you turn to the bottle and not Jesus.

When the doctor says cancer, you turn into a mean pessimistic depression and not a Christian outlook.

When abuse, terrorism, job loss are at your doorstep, you turn into the angry ‘troll’ online instead of God’s word.

And oh it can be so hard, so so hard. You will do anything to cope even if you know that it is not the right coarse of action. You will fight the waters in a panicked frenzy even though you see the lifeguard coming to help.

But God is there; God is always there. Cliche right? But we use it so much because it is true. You need to stop fighting and start trusting your lifeguard. You need to be dependent on the Almighty God.

But it is against our nature. We want control, we want to know the future, we want to forge our own destiny.

But God wants you to be his child again. A child so dependent, there’s that word again, on his parents.

Did you ever think about Jesus in The Garden of Gethsemane? He didn’t want to die, he didn’t want to be mocked and beaten, he didn’t want to have all those hundreds of trillions of sins pummeled against him. He didn’t want to have to go through that so bad, he sweat blood.

Well I have cried, had panic attacks and been unable to stand against the world, but never sweat blood; I don’t anyone ever has.

Jesus undoubtedly did not want to do this, but he did because he trusted God’s will. He was dependent on God.

Now, I am not saying that God will make you die a horrible death like Jesus by any means. But what I am saying is that Jesus came down to earth to show the greatest example of what dependency on his Father looks like.

I am pretty sure that it was not fun by any standards, and giving everything over to God isn’t either. But it is needed.

Jesus died on that cross today two thousand years ago because we needed to be saved from our sins. Because we needed the ability to reach out to that lifeguard when we are drowning. He died so that I could pray my favorite and hated type of prayers.

So I challenge you this Good Friday to try to be dependent on God. Try to allow him to lead. Try to let go and let him pull you to shore.

I know it can be so difficult, but sometimes Jesus just needs to knock you over the head and let you trust him.

So stop drowning and call out to the best lifeguard in the world.

 

Pixabay/user:Unsplash

Dear God – Calm Me

Dear God,

Thank you for your calming ways. Thank you for always being there for me. Thank you for when I ask you to calm my thoughts, you do.

When my boat is rocking against the storming sea, you calm the sea for me and hold me in your arms. When my hot air balloon is flying away, I call to you and you ground me once more. When the training wheels on my new bike are off, you are always watching me if I fall.

Over the past few months, I never realized how much you are there for me. You are always there. Yeah, I heard the cheesy sayings that God’s phone is never busy and so such, but I never felt it before. You calmed me when nothing else and no one else could.

Directed prayer just to you and not letting anything else interfere has helped me not only as a Christian, but as a person. It makes me undoubtedly sure that Christians are not just talking to themselves when praying, but you are truly there.

Thank you for tucking me in at night and making sure I am safe in my own mind. Never underestimate the power of prayer! 🙂

Philippines 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Your calming waves wash over me, thank you God.

With love from your daughter and best friend,

 

Pixabay/waldryano

Dear God – Thank You

Dear God,

I just want to say thank you. Thank you for helping me. Thank you for guiding me. Thank you for answering me even if the answer is no. Thank you for caring for me for no other reason besides that you chose to.

I know sometimes prayers are like grocery lists, just ticking off what we need or want. So I just want to say thank you for all that you have done. Thank you for answering me when I pray that you guide me through my answers on tests. Thank you for answering me when I pray for a loved one in need. Thank you for answering me when my mind won’t stop racing and I ask for peace.

Sometimes you answer our prayers, but we forget that we even asked and don’t notice the difference. God point out the little things to me. Help me take pleasure in the ordinary enable to see you better.

Help me see the good in everything. I am thankful for stressful days. It means I have something about which to stress. I have a life worth living. Thank you, my King. Help me be thankful for homework because I have teachers that care and I go to a good school. Thank you, my Lord. I am thankful for friends that repeat the same stories over and over again because that means that I have friends and they are funny. Thank you, my savior. I am thankful for my dog barking when I leave because that means he loves me and is protecting my house. Thank you, Father. I am thankful for my lunch exploding in the microwave because that means I am not starving and I have electricity. Thank you, Christ.

God, I am so thankful for you. I know who and where I would be if I didn’t have you. You are with me all day and night long and care for me even though you have 7.25 billion others to watch over.

I am so thankful that you lead me where you see fit. Thank you for guiding me this week to my new favorite Bible verse. Psalm 94:17-19, ” Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.” Thank you God that your words thousands of years ago still apply. 

Thank you God, you are my one and only. Thank you for all you do, seen and unseen. Thank you for all you do and that we have forgotten. Thank you, my Lord and savior.

 

Pixabay/waldryano

Dear God – Forever and Always

Dear God,

I find that my prayers to you are more like updates or daily recordings of what I need or want, and not my deeper thoughts and emotions. I desperately want a deeper relationship with you. I pray throughout my day and for the people I pass, but I am praying at you not with you. Every Sunday I pray that you use me and give me courage to act upon the situations you lead me to see. I pray that my life of serving you will cause others to re-think their lives. I pray that I will be your good and faithful servant.  I want to have a conversation with you and not asking for directions.

For the past few years of my life, I act like I’m talking to certain people in my life to understand what my thoughts are, and I guess that is my way of trying to have a conversation with you. I just can’t picture you to talk with you. But I’m afraid that if I do come up with a form of what you look like then I’ll put you in a box with limitations.

I want a yearning to be with you. I want to feel like I can’t get enough of you. I want you to be my forever and always, never letting go. But to do that, I need to let go and that is the hardest part.

I am not okay with my relationship with you right now, but I don’t know if I’m ready to take the next step. God will you hold my hand?

God, you are already my best friend, but that is not enough for me. You know everything single little thing about me, things that the closest people to me don’t even know. You are there when no one else is. Your timing is unbelievably perfect and I have seen that time and time again. Will you show me that perfect timing again, please?

I want you to hold me tight and tell me you got me and nothing will ever happen that we can’t handle together. I want you to carry me and whisper soft guidance in my ear. I want you to tell me to stop and when to come back. I want you to be something entirely new and exciting each time we talk. I want to listen to you and able to do absolutely nothing together like I do with my friends here on this earth. I want you to make me want all of you and more.

I want to have a relationship with you were I can’t wait to be able to talk to you. I want to have you to be my first thought to my last dream. I want to have a conversation with you that is not one sided at you and not just wants, but a conversation to just pass the time. I want to talk with you just to talk with you. I want to listen to you just to listen to you. I want to be with you just to be with you.

God, I want you to be my forever and always.

 

With love from your daughter and best friend,

 

Pixabay/waldryano

Am I the Only One?

Inspired by a two-sentence story by Mr. Bloognish:

Everyone is so patriotic, flying flags and painting themselves loudly with red, white, and blue. But when it is time to say the Pledge of Allegiance, they are all so silent and grey, feeling ashamed to make a sound.

---

Back even 20 years ago it was ‘cool’ to believe in your country. It was something to be proud of that you are an American. but it seems just around the time the internet started to boom, it was something to be ashamed of.

Yes, 9/11 happened during this time and made everyone question, but shouldn’t we join together and fix problems that may arise. I ask, does there currently exist a country that you would rather live in?

When the Star-Spangled Banner is sung at games, does your heart skip a heart beat, or am I the only one? When you watch Captain America or Unbroken – big blockbusters promoting American pride – don’t you want to say ‘Thank you’, or am I the only one? When I walk to the cemetery by my house and I see a flag fallen in the dirt, I pick it up and brush it off, making the flag stand tall again, am I the only one?

My parents met each other in the National Guard, so maybe I’m a little bias, but shouldn’t you be proud of the country that protects us, no matter the failures?

Each time I say the Pledge at 7:20 every week day, it’s an honor. I think of a different aspect of my great nation and pray for that when I say ‘liberty and Justice for all’. It is a privilege that my God is still recognized in my allegiance to my native land when other foreign brother and sisters would go to prison. I am proud that my country protects my right to religion in such a way. So I am not ashamed to make a sound for the U.S. of A, I am ashamed of my peers who do not.

Pixabay/DWilliams

Over Here

I am surrounded by life and energy

It is bursting through the walls

It echos down the halls

The group over there

is chatting and laughing

Talking of things did and done

I do not join in

They are over there

and I am over here

A clear separation

A hard line

A wall, impossible to climb over

But I made this separation

But I drew this hard line

But I built the wall

I am different

I am alone

But there is nothing wrong in that fact

Alone can be good

Alone can make people notice

Alone

makes me decide who I am

and what choices I make because of who I am

I do not join in on their type of fun

Because of a lack of a want

I forgo their folly

I am alone

But not quite lonely

Just feeling out of place

Needing someone to guide me

Feeling awkward because people stare

They notice

They see the difference

They see that I am different

I hold to a different standard

Not one of Earth

but of the Heavens

I am alone, yes

But I am alone with God

pixabay/mleonascimento0

The Simple Goal

It’s such a simple goal

It’s comes so easy to us

It comes with little thought

but just a small ‘Yay!’

Yes, we might practice on our form

or distance

But nothing like this

Biting down hard on his lip

The look of concentration in his eyes

The force behind the throw

The ball leaves his finger tips

Archs high in the air

. . . and misses

Throw

Miss

Throw

Miss

Throw

Miss

Throw

Miss

Throw

Miss

A hundred times over

The sweat dripping down his neck

His hair damp from the effort

His shirt wrinkled

He takes the ball

Gets a firm grip

Throws

His wheelchair kicks back against the force

He watches the ball, longingly wishing it would swoosh inside the net

It circles the rim

and falls

on the other side

Another miss

I run across the gym floor for the ball

I put the ball inside his reach

He looks at me

He shakes his head

He wants to give up

He is tired

He knows he’ll never make it

He’s done this so many times

Each time so close

but not close enough

He can’t do it

It’s not possible

“Hey, I know you’re tired.

But keep on trying.

We can do this.

YOU can do this.”

His hands slowly move forward

and takes the ball

He paws his fingers forward

Moves the ball into the position he has done so many times

each time with the ball missing by an inch or two

He throws

Misses

I run for the ball

I pray

“Dear God,

This means so much for him.

Please let him do this.

Amen.”

I turn around

His hand is up to his face

defeated

his whole body shows it

I move the ball around in the air

trying to get his attention.

I call his name.

“I know you can do this.

You are so close.

All this has been practice

and this time you can make it.

Come on, you can do this!”

He takes the ball

He throws the ball

He misses

I run for the ball across our side of the gym

No one sees his struggle

No one seems to think it matters

They should

They don’t see his smile

when the ball hits him in the face

and he laughs

They don’t see when he is trying

but can’t seem to do ‘good enough’

They don’t see his longing looks at the other kids

to be like them

To move

To use his legs

To carry on a conversation

I am jumping up and down by this point

“You are doing awesome!

This is all on you.

You can do this!”

I emphasize each word with a jump.

I look at the clock

one minute until gym is over

I throw the ball to him.

He catches it awkwardly, like he always does

But he catches it and that makes it beautiful.

He looks at me.

I nod my head vigorously.

He bites down on the left side of his lower lip

Moves the ball into position.

The ball leaves his hands

I hear his wheelchair kick back from the force he puts on the ball.

The ball arches perfectly.

The ball rolls on the rim

. . . and falls in.

The net swooshes.

The ball falls

The ball bounces.

The music is cut

and the coach yells to clean up.

I turn

and see the biggest smile

He starts laughing

I start jumping again

I praise him on what an accomplishment it is.

“I am so proud of you!

You worked so hard

and you made it!”

I look around at all the others in the class

knowing all too well that they could have done this feat so easily

But they aren’t the ones who practiced non stop

But they aren’t the ones who are in a wheelchair

But they aren’t the ones who kept going when they were tired

It’s such a simple goal

It’s comes so easily to us

It comes with little thought

but just a small ‘Yay!’

But life is not fair

Some people struggle to do the simplest things

The simplest tasks can take a great amount of effort

Nothing like the satisfaction in himself he feels when it is done.

He softly whispers,

“We made a basket.”

Håkan Dahlström / Foter / CC BY

Create. Be. Enjoy: You

Be You

What is love?

Over the moon. Fun. Compelling. And More!

The hidden treasure that few

Understand the difference between

Love and Lover’s

Who are you

When you have

The power of two.

Are you yourself?

Or are you what he wants

Advice

rediscover why you fell in love with you.

---

This one only took me two hours and two magazines! I started cutting and the words seemed to choose themselves. This poem is about the relationships that I see in high schoolers or any relationship were one person conforms to what the other expects. Expectations, you can either set the bar low or high and they will met it if you expect them to. Why do people feel like they need to conform to society, to their peers, to their significant other?

People like to feel accepted. That they are one of the group, but are the best part of the group of course! People want to fit in, but stand out just enough to feel important. I get that. I’ve done that. And I am trying to discern when to or not to.

Our society and culture is all about the individual and how they are important. Yes, great! But that individual has to fit into the group of individuals. A group solely made for being singular. All about me in the this great big world of other amazing individuals and their Instagram posts.

But don’t get me wrong social media can be wonderful to spread worthy causes. But a while back remember the water dunking ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, everyone started doing it because celebrities were doing it. It became more about ‘Hey I did that!’ than the cause.

So what I am saying is that, you don’t need to conform to a group or idea or expectation because you think you need to or someone wants you to. Finding who you are and who you are meant to be is one of the hardest things, and you need don’t need a fad to stray you in the wrong direction.

But here is another thought, sometimes you don’t need to find who you are, but create it. You may look around and see everyone else has their niche. Their home, their friends, the echos of laughs at the lunch table. But you don’t. You begin to think, maybe this person that I am creating myself to be is wrong. Maybe I am wrong and they are right. Maybe I am the problem.

No! Sometimes before creating who you are, you need to create what you are. By creating what you are, determines who you are and who you will become.

Did you ever think about who started the groups that everyone always flocks to? Maybe they were the outcast and decided to do something about it and created what they are. The clique had to start somewhere.

Final big thoughts: Be you. Find or create you. Create what you are. Once you find or create that, live that. If people don’t like it, honor their choice. They choose who they are and maybe you don’t fit into that. People make choices that are right for them, not you and how it will make you feel. We don’t ever really think about that. That there is more lives and life choices than ‘me’.

General when we make choices, who do we make them for?

Us. Me. You. Because that is the first person that it will impact. Every time I pray, I pray that I will not only show and be a good witness to Christ, but I hope that my actions will have an impact. A good one I hope. I pray that I will not be self-centered that I miss how I affected someone. I pray that I will see their pain and be able to do something. And if I can’t at least I can show that I acknowledge that I see their pain and they feel noticed.

So to the people who ask other’s to change for them or because they think they have to. Your path, your choice, your life of who you are creating yourself to be, doesn’t fit everyone. People are different. Not everyone likes pineapple on their pizza! (I do).

Okay, I promise last time of me trying to wrap up. People make choices. People make choices for themselves, not you. Honestly, people normally don’t care how their actions affect you. Or they just don’t think about it. So give some people some slack, or more in Bible terms, show mercy, do not give judgement, but discern. You matter, but you don’t matter when people make their life choices for themselves. You matter when you make your life choices. You make you of who you want to be.

God created you to be you. Nothing more or less. God created you to be you and not what society wants you to be. Everything about you is perfect in your perfectly crazy life.

I’ll leave you with some lyrics from my favorite artist Jamie Grace’s Every Bit of Lovely:

Don’t you know that you’re God’s original work of art, yes you are
So don’t ever let them tell you that you’re less than wonderful
Cause you’re a one and only
You’re every little bit, every little bit of lovely
Have you seen a lightning storm?
And have you heard the oceans roar?
Have you seen a newborn baby smile?
Well, the same God who made all that, made you