What I Used To Believe: Fame Vs Fullness

June 19, 2013 in God, The Word with 0 Comments

All my life, I have walked to the mantra of a certain verse of Scripture. It’s Isaiah 6:8:

 

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I, send me!’”

 

My heart has always been pure in it’s desire to be used by God for His service. What has changed with time, however, has been my anticipation of what being sent by God actually means. Let me clarify. I used to assume that being special and used by God would mean my own fame and repute. Sound embarrassingly arrogant? Before you throw that stone, be sure to consider what you’ve thought of as God’s “plan” for your life. Have you always believed that meant something shining and uplifting? If so, you may not be as far from my original assumption as you think.

God does have a plan for your life, and I even believe it is a beautiful one. I just think that beauty comes in so many different forms, that it would be foolish to assume that God’s plan for my life must equate with my own promotion. The older I’ve gotten and the more life I’ve seen, I’ve come to realize that my own fame has never been the purpose of God’s promises to me. Instead, I’ve seen how He desires for me to experience the fullness of all He has to offer. Honestly? There’s no comparison in terms of worth. Fame is fleeting and generally empty. Fullness of God and life is everything. I want that.

Today, re-evaluate the way you’ve been thinking of when you pray for God to use you. You may realize that you are already, even today, living out His beautiful plan for your life.

Father to the Fatherless

June 17, 2013 in family, God with 0 Comments

It’s amazing to me how God’s timing works. With yesterday being Father’s Day, I was thinking about the idea of God as Father to all of us, but also, especially to those with no earthy father. I went to look up some Scripture on the topic, and found this verse:
“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…”
Psalm 68:5-6a
But then (and here comes the timing part), I realized that this verse was actually part of my daily Bible reading assignment today! How cool!
The verses truly stand alone in terms of conveying a loud and clear message, so I’ll only add this: I love the verse that follows – “God sets the lonely in families.” Wow. I have seen this to be so true in our lives. We have the most amazing family, and yet, there have been times when they were far away from us, and we saw our church rise up and become like family to us. Or maybe it’s a special friend group that has stood by and made us feel like we were not alone, even in some of our darkest hours. God is so good to make sure we have the things that we need (and sometimes we don’t even know we need them until they’re already in place).
If you felt lonely or discouraged yesterday, don’t despair! God has been called the Father to the fatherless, and His Word says that He will put the lonely in families. If you are in need of either of those things today, ask Him. When our prayers line up with His word, we can rest assured that they will be answered. I am praying for you today, even though I don’t specifically know your request. I pray that God will bring hope to the hopeless and family to the lonely.

Obvious

June 12, 2013 in Life, Prayer with 1 Comment

Why is it I always miss the obvious things?

 

I bemoan my unanswered prayers whilst simultaneously realizing I haven’t actually prayed about them in weeks.

I cry over my lack of purpose and continue to turn down opportunities to serve and make a difference.

I wonder why God is silent but forget that I haven’t spoken to Him in days.

 

These things are obvious and yet, even now, after years of walking out this journey of Christianity, they continue to be the same things that I get tripped up on time and again. Why? I’m not quite sure, although I’d venture to say that it’s often those things that we know to do that we somehow take for granted and forget. I know that I need to ask God for the things I am seeking, and yet, I don’t always do that. I know that I need to be available and mobile in order to find God’s purposes for my life, and yet, I sit in my comfort zone and wonder why I feel unfulfilled.

We all need reminders of the obvious, so here’s one for you (and me!) today: go back to the basics! Pray! Ask! Go! Let’s live out the obviouses and find God at greater levels of depth than ever before. I think we’ll all see surprising and welcome changes when we do.

Reflections: On The Eve Of Another Year

June 10, 2013 in birthday, Life with 1 Comment

Tomorrow is my birthday, which, as always, lends itself to a bit of self-reflection.

The past year can basically be summed up with one word: change. Just 4 days after my last birthday (in which I entered into the new world of the 30s), we packed up and moved to a new city and a new house. Not long after that, we discovered that I was pregnant. In the fall, I sent my oldest off to Kindergarten. In October, we launched our second Access campus. In November, we were told that we had lost our daughter that I carried for 24 weeks.

Change. Lots of change.

Change can be good or change can bad, but it’s all change. Any change can rock our world. This year has felt like non-stop change. As a person who clings to sameness and familiarity, it was often all I could do to just find something (anything!) and grab hold of it for dear life. Surely, I’d think, there was something that was steady in the midst of the constant changes.

You know what? There was something that was constant in all the change: God never left me. I felt sorrow at times, yes. I felt anger at times, yes. I felt grief at times, yes. But I never felt alone. The words of 2 Corinthians 4:8 sum it up perfectly:

 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;”

 

Being 30 has been insane, spectacular, and overwhelming, and I cannot wait to see all that 31 holds! The best is yet to come!

Don’t Trust In Horses

June 3, 2013 in faith, God, The Word with 0 Comments

This may be the strangest blog title I’ve come up with yet.

I recently came across this verse:

 

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”

- Psalm 20:7

 

It’s funny at first glance because…horses? Chariots? Those terms are simply archaic in our current worldview. And yet, the meaning is the same. The writer of this Psalm wanted to remind people that their security didn’t come in the strength of their horse or the speed of their chariot. All we need to do is update the terms a bit and it’s still completely applicable in our lives.

So, perhaps, instead of trusting in chariots and horses, we could say, “checkbooks, relationships, or careers.” Those are just a few of the things that we find our most external comfort in. The message of this verse applies just as clearly, though: we can’t put our trust in anything but God. Why? Checks bounce. Relationships end. Careers implode. But God? God never fails.

Today, think with a smile of this phrase: “Don’t trust in horses.” And yet, in it’s humor, let it also remind you to keep your trust in God alone.

LMKTM: Through the praise of children.

May 31, 2013 in LMKTM, praise & worship with 0 Comments

Yesterday in my daily Bible reading (still going strong on the read-through-the-Bible-in-one-year plan!), I came across a verse that just blew me away. Check it out:

 

Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a strongholdagainst your enemies,
    to silence the foe and the avenger.

- Psalm 8:2

 

I love watching my older son Joey in his praise and worship. He is tentative at first, experimentally lifting his hands as if to test the waters, and then diving further in as long lashes flutter closed in focus. It’s breathtaking in it’s purity and simplicity. He is reaching out to God in his own way – free of pretense, religious hangups, or cynicism. He’s simply praising His God.

This verse just shatters me in it’s profound truth. Through the simple praises of little ones, God can silence our foes and enemies. WOW. If that’s not a challenge to de-clutter the complexity of your heart and mind, I don’t know what is. When you next get before God in worship, keep it simple. Think of a child’s earnest simplicity and try to emulate that same purity of heart.

Let’s learn something from our kids today. We may just silence some of our enemies in the process.

Summer Sessions

May 29, 2013 in God, Life with 1 Comment

Here in the Burns household, summer has officially begun! Both boys are now home all day, and the heat is out in full force! Do you love summer? I have so many fond memories of days spent pruning up in the swimming pool, camp fun, and sitting outside with a Popsicle, racing against the sun to see who would claim it first.

In the midst of all the summer busyness and excitement, though, it can be easy to forget to be continually drawing closer to and seeking after God. Sometimes when the sun is shining brightest in our lives, we take it for granted, forgetting the days when it was dark and cold in our souls. Let’s not do that this year! Instead of letting the summer be a lax time where our spiritual lives are concerned, let’s do the opposite: let’s make a decision to seek after God even stronger during these hot months.

Every other part of your life can be a little more casual and relaxed in this middle part of the calendar, but not your walk with God. He is just as much God of the good days as He is of the bad. This summer, use that extra free time to get more purposeful about seeking after God and sitting before Him. If we do, we’ll find this a remarkable summer – we’ll hear from Him, watch Him do amazing things in our lives, and, when summer ends, find ourselves closer to Him than ever before.

Let’s make this a summer that we’ll never forget!

Being The Hope

May 22, 2013 in hope, Life with 0 Comments

There sure is a lot of sadness in the world lately, isn’t there? When I look at the devastation all around, I’m tempted to give in to feelings of hopeless. But almost as soon as those emotions surface, another, stronger realization sets in -  I’m not without hope!

I think the concept of hope has been challenging me lately. I know we can put our hope in Christ, but to a world that has more questions than answers, what speaks hope to them the most clearly? Last night I realized that it’s Christ in us that brings hope to this world. We are the messengers of Christ’s hope to a hopeless world. Through our lives and the way we live, we can show hope to a world that so desperately needs it.

The thing is that we are not separate from the world in that we all suffer. The difference in us is that we carry a sense of hope even through the darkest storms. That is what this hopeless world needs to see.

Today, let Christ in you be hope for the hopeless. You may think that you have nothing to offer someone who is hurt and devastated, but Christ does! Let Him use you and flow through you to bring hope where it is most needed. There is hope, and you can be that hope, through Christ, to a hurting world.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Gavin!

May 20, 2013 in birthday, family with 2 Comments

I cannot believe that my little man is 3 today! David Gavin was named not only after his grandfather on the Munizzi side, but also after the man after God’s own heart, King David. My prayer is that he would live a life of similar passion to that of his “Poppi” and the Biblical hero – always falling more in love with God and letting that love be his driving force. My wish for him is that he would always know love, and that he would be a secure, confident, and driven man because of it.

Gavin is one of God’s greatest gifts to our family. He has brought such joy and laughter, and I thank God daily for his sweet life. I am honored and overwhelmed that I get to be his mother. I only pray that I can do the job justice.

Happy Birthday, Gavin! Your mommy loves you more than you can imagine!

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Cultivating Leaders

May 17, 2013 in leadership, parenting with 0 Comments

This week, I was honored to be a guest blogger for ARC women. I thought I’d share my blog from there here, as well.

 

As a mother of two small boys, I often find my days consumed in the ever-present needs of shoe-tying, nose-wiping, dinner-making, toilet-cleaning, and fight-refereeing. By the time my kids are sleeping peacefully in their beds each night, I feel as if I’ve accomplished monumental feats, and yet, if I had to try to quantify what exactly it is that I did to someone else, it may not sound all that impressive a list.

What I’m trying to say is that right now, with a 5 year old and a 2 year old, my days can feel pretty low on the significance factor. I don’t preach 2 sermons each Sunday like my husband. I don’t help patients with heart problems like my dear friend who is a cardiac specialist. I don’t even get to show the end result of a painting I’ve labored over like an artist friend of mine. I’ve fought discouragement over this topic, wondering what it is that I’m doing with my life in the greater scheme of things.

This could seem like an odd start to a blog entitled “Cultivating Leaders,” but hear me out. There’s nothing I could be doing right now that will have a more direct impact on the future of leadership than helping to shape the lives of my two sons. They are potential world changers, and no one will get more of a chance at impacting their life’s course than my husband and I. Every day that I wipe noses, referee fights, or make their dinner, I am cultivating leaders.

As a pastor’s wife, I get a weekly slot of time in which I can touch lives and hopefully impact them for the better. As a mother, I get hours upon hours of life to show my boys the way of the Lord and help them into discovering their own passion and love for Jesus. Can you see why I chose to highlight this aspect of leadership cultivation? In terms of impact, it’s a no-brainer.

Cultivate leaders in your churches, by all means! But don’t look so far into the crowd that you miss the tiny eyes and sticky hands that are waiting for guidance right in your own home. Cultivating leaders begins right now.

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