Friday, April 26, 2013

from friendship to family


For years, I prayed that the Lord would provide me with a group of friends that were in love with the Lord. A group of friends to do life with. A group of friends that would be a second family to run to.

He has answered all that, and more.

The Greek word PHILEO is defined as, "to treat a friend with affection".
The Greek word STORGE is defined as, "the mutual love of family members".

I am blessed with friends who started out defined as PHILEO, and have become STORGE. Friends who stay up late during crisises. Friends who stand in the back of church and listen to your soap opera-esque life. Friends who call on their breaks to check on me. Friends who do my dishes. Friends who make me laugh until I cry. Friends who call me out on crap. Friends to be silly with and serious with and meaningful with. Friends to pray for and pray with. Friends who seek Jesus, who walk with Jesus, who make Him known. Friends who speak truth and life and blessings and love over me.

Tonight I am reveling in the beauty of God's plan for friendship. I am so grateful for such wonderful friends. I pray that each of you reading this are each blessed by a wonderful friend today.

I pray that each of you you would BE a wonderful friend today- hug, greet someone cheerfully, hit someone up for a coffee date, shoot a quick text to let them know they're on your heart, leave a funny voicemail. There's all sorts of ways to let the people you love know you care about them.

xo, bethy

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Vulnerability.

"Our lives are a mixture of circumstances- ones that lead us to rest and revel in the presence of God, and ones that drive us to our knees and question how such things could happen." -Angie Smith

Friends, life's been messy. I've been knocked to my knees and forced to acknowledge the fact that I'm NOTHING without Jesus.

And that's hard. We like to think we can do anything and everything. I call that the Superwoman (or man) mentality.  The reality is that we can't do anything and everything. No siree bob. We, as humans, are not capable of doing anything and everything we want to do.

I would love to tell you that I have it together all the time. HA. What a lie that would be. The truth is, I'm a mess and a half. This week has been especially hard. I barely have one foot in front of the other. I've lived in sweat pants and had a swollen face most of the week. I hadn't put makeup on or actually done my hair until today.

I have an infamous family, so the majority of people in my city know me; meaning I can't go anywhere without people noting my appearance. For once, I had nothing left. I had no energy to make small talk, or deal with false pretenses.

I was forced to be vulnerable with people.

Vulnerability is scary. If you're like me, you'd rather go back to bed than deal with vulnerability. I'm not saying I don't do vulnerable- I'm typically only vulnerable with a select few. Vulnerable to the world?? Yikes. So for me to be truthful and tell people that I wasn't doing well was huge. Truthfully, I desperately needed prayer, and I wasn't afraid to ask for it.

I was falling apart, barely held up by my two best friends, and of course, Jesus. I was flipping through the blogs I read regularly when I ran across Alyssa Bethke's post. Here's the expert that I needed so desperately:

"“The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down.” {Ps. 145:14}

“The Lord upholds those who are falling…” Those who are falling. Falling. Tumbling down. Not perfect. Don’t have it all together. Messy.

The Lord upholds them. He upholds the messy ones. He holds on to those of us who are down. Who are in despair. Who are struggling. He is mighty. He is powerful. He is the Savior. Not us. He is the Rescuer. Not us. He is the one who holds on."

Honestly, reading that felt like a desert recieving water.

The Lord upholds all who are falling. He HOLDS ON. He does not let go.

How comforting is that? His grip on us does not slip. He holds us tight. He holds us close. We are not forsaken. We are not held captive. We are not left alone to deal with mess.

There is such truth to be found in Christ. Be comforted today, dears.

~Beth



Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Burn Away


My flesh is at war with the Spirit right now friends. The Lord gave me such a wonderful peace about a situation, yet my flesh (aka Satan) is determined to make me miserable.

And that's not okay.

For as much peace as I have, I'm struggling to let go. Why do we struggle with that, friends? When we KNOW, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord is in control. He is greater. Yet, we want to stay in our toddler mindset of "MINE!" and cling to our problems.

Uh uh. Not me, not anymore.

One of my favorite Christian artists, Meredith Andrews, released a new album this year. The song "Burn Away" slapped me across the face today.

"Only You, only You
All I need, let nothing stand in between,

make me Yours, a consuming fire

Only You, only You
All I need, let nothing stand in between,

make me Yours, a consuming fire

Burn away

Everything that breaks Your heart
Everything that is not love
Purify my every thought


Take away
Everything that comes between us
Everything that is untrue
Jesus make me more like You
Burn away

You are love, You are love
Blazing light, holy flame
Fierce and wild, have Your way
Consuming fire

Yes You are love, You are love..."


BURN. Not tear, not rip, not break, but BURN. It is gone. It cannot be reconstructed. It cannot be replaced. Burn away EVERYTHING that breaks the Lord's heart.

There are no ties to sin that are permanent, unless you make them so. Satan has no hold on you, no victory in any situation unless you give him the victory. Don't give him the victory! Burn ANY ties you might have to Satan that are keeping you apart from God.

Take away everything that comes between the Lord and me. What is filling the gap that separates you from the Father? It is not from Him. He will gladly take your garbage out.

"Take away everything that is untrue." Believe no lies, no insecurities, nor anyone whose approval you seek. Jesus wants to fill you with His truth! Have Him rid you of any lies cluttering your life so that He can pour truth into you.

Jesus is love. Blazing love, fierce and wild and all-consuming. Let Him be your light.

So burn those ties with me tonight, friends. Rest in the truth that He loves you. He fights for you. Let's burn away anything that comes between our relationship with the Father. Release to Him all of our problems, for when we do so, we are in better hands- His hands.

~beth