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“I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:10-13).

Have you ever had a situation in life that didn’t exactly turn out the way you envisioned it? Maybe it was a job opportunity you wish you had, maybe it was wishing you majored in something different in college, maybe it was not telling someone how you felt about them and now they’ve passed away, or maybe it was making a choice in your past that you simply wish you could undo.

If you’re anything like me, when these situations happen, I end up with a big case of the “what if’s.” What if this…what if that…maybe then this would be this way or that. And it’s a never-ending cycle of questions and unfulfilled longing for the reality of the situation at hand to be different…to change…to be something it’s not.

What I have learned through these questions of “what if” is that the Lord is not glorified through my longing for something different. He is glorified in my present reality, not in my wishful dreams. Now, I am not saying that you shouldn’t analyze your life or remember things from your past in order to learn from them.

However, when we continuously question our circumstances, we rob God of the joy He brings to our life in the present. And life is not meant to be lived wishing for a change or for a future something to occur. It is meant to be lived wholeheartedly right now.

I find encouragement in the words of Paul written in Philippians. The Lord seems to continuously lead me back to these verses this year. Here, Paul is thanking the church at Philippi for their encouragement of him and for wanting to provide for him although they weren’t given the opportunity.

Then, he goes on to say, “Not that I need anything even now. I have found that whatever life brings my way, I am content” (paraphrase mine). No case of the “what if’s” for him. He had learned that even when things didn’t go as planned, the Lord was still His strength and in knowing that, he could continue living.

Have you ever had a case of the “what if’s” in your life? What did the Lord reveal to you during this time?
 

In 1981 Olivia Newton John charged us all to “get physical.”

Whatever the shady message and embarrassing connotation of this song—and perhaps a memory of some hilarious karaoke experience—it has been stuck in my head all week (and popping up at all the wrong moments, I might add).

I know one reason why. It is probably because of Barbara Brown Taylor’s words on wearing skin in An Altar in the World. Through her strong, poetic, and achingly real manner, BBT “reveals how to see the sacred in our everyday life.” Each chapter discusses an aspect of the Christian faith and how it can be seen, felt, tasted, heard, and expressed on the ground of one’s everyday life. Her chapter on wearing skin majors on the mystery of the Incarnation, the glory of the Other pulling on flesh to become like one of us.

And exactly like one of us.

This may sound like a third grade Sunday School lesson, but there is more than meets the eye. The vast wealth and weight of the lesson comes if we take the fact of Christ’s humanness to the extreme to which it actually was. Then maybe we can draw some deep and existence-altering implications.

Jesus breathed, perspired, got bellyaches, and smiled. He ate, talked, turned tables, and held children. Jesus felt the rush of goose bumps and the burn of stressed muscles. In Jesus, the God of the universe learned what it is like to lose sleep on hard ground, and how it feels to stand in the embrace of sunbeams. He was human, and He is human—He rose from the dead. It is a wonder to think that Christ’s humanness remains after the Resurrection. If Jesus had come back as some body-less sprit, the resurrection would have been less of a feat, at best. But He didn’t. Jesus came back human, and hungry at that.

Barbara Brown Taylor reminded me of the marvel of Jesus’ humanness. More accurately, she reminded me to marvel at Jesus’ humanness, for, in doing so, I might catch a glimpse of God’s orientation to flesh. Understanding that God put on flesh in Jesus and that God thought flesh important enough to raise it from the dead means something about how God values my own flesh. And everyone else’s. There is a message in Christ’s very humanity; I can feel it.

I hear and believe many a message about my body in this time and society. I get twisted notions from magazines, television, and the unwitting socialization of my peers. I get it from myself when I pass mirrors or feel pinched in my clothes. However, acknowledging Jesus’ physicality, His body-ness, empowers me to break from these messages. There are countless ramifications and freedoms found in the Incarnation, but one that heals me now is that human bodies are important to God.

Bodies mean something. They are not things to be whipped into shape, fit into certain dressings, or punished for not looking a certain way. They are miracles and present revelations of God’s ingenuity and imagination. They house souls and preach of a person’s life. Even more, they preach of their Creator.

What would happen if I did “get physical” in that I allowed myself to believe the worth God sees in my body? What if every day I took time to quiet popular messages about my body—from the world and from my own self—and listened to what God has to say? And what if I took time to notice what my body might say about God?

What if I took time to hear God’s presence in my breathing? If I noticed with each heartbeat the God that took care to create it? And what if I noticed that about others’ bodies, too, the sacred handiwork and marvel that they are?

O God, may I walk knowing that within my body
There be messages of Your grace and love.

May I live realizing, and giving,
My body as a sanctuary;
My body as a breathing prayer,
My body as a pulsing miracle,
A living message to the world.

Leanna thinks God very funny—you ought to see the toes He gave her! She prays you find and feel the wonder of God that you are.

Is There Only One?

In every kitchen in America there is cabinet or pantry that contains spices. The variety of spices will depend upon the degree of “culinary confidence” that goes on in that kitchen. In my kitchen, I LOVE to bake! I thoroughly enjoy trying out new recipes. Within the last two years I have gained more confidence in the kitchen. I learned a key element of success in your recipes is having great basics—baking powder that is in date, pure vanilla extract (not imitation), and a particular brand of cake mix that makes awesome cakes (blue box with a little dough man).

There have been times when I have been thrown for a loop when writing my ingredient list: fennel seeds, smoked paprika, beau monde, cream of tartar, turmeric, and coriander to name a few. I would wonder, will that seasoning really make a difference? Just because I did not know what it was, the taste, smell, or affect it would make in the dish, did not mean I should shuffle that recipe in the “try later” pile. I would keep my recipe close to me in the kitchen; diligently referring to it when the slightest uncertainty of what the next step would arise. I trusted in the recipe and that my dish would come out of my oven and look just like the picture on my recipe card, minus the pretty dish.

Who are your Taste Testers?

The same can be said about the Bible studies, curriculums, or books that you, as the leader, have been thumbing through and questioning to be the best to use with your group. There is such a variety to choose from. They all are “spices” that fulfill various aspects and offer challenges to someone on her faith journey. I want to first ask you to pray for God to lead your group. Do not be intimidated by a topic that you feel the Lord guiding and leading you to facilitate—He will honor your listening to His call and He will provide all that you need. You first need to know where your “Taste Testers” (ladies who attend) are in their walk with the Lord.

You may have women coming who do not know Jesus as their Savior, you may have women who have just decided to commit their lives to Jesus, and you may have women who have been in a relationship with Jesus for quite sometime. Your group may have a mixture of each of these kinds of women and, if so, it would be best to ask them (feel free to offer an anonymous approach if that provides more security—sending an email or wring on slips of paper to turn in) what type of study they would enjoy doing.

I would like to suggest that you check out the Bible study that is offered by myMISSION.  You don’t have to look too far. It is right here on the myMISSION site. Not only does it provide Scriptural studies and daily living encouragement, it also offers mission project ideas that will get your group living out the study you are doing and reaching out to the community.

Missions Mosaic offers a Bible study and planning guide to help facilitate discussion of articles through interactive studies. The sky is the limit; there truly are hundreds to choose from—I pray that you do find the spice that will fit your group the best for this season of life. If you are just a salt and pepper kind of gal, I encourage you this week to try a new flavor—garlic, chili powder, or some smoked paprika. And don’t be afraid to spice things up a bit.

SHINE On!
Jen

Friends, I have to be honest with you. This week has been difficult. I have been plagued with this low, dark feeling deep in my gut. It’s a feeling that has a voice attached, and the voice has been saying ugly things: “You are no good. You are incompetent. You are incapable of doing all of your job right. You are a failure, the weakest link on your team. You should give up your job to someone more deserving—someone else could catch on to this much faster than you. Maybe you chose the wrong career after all.”

It’s been one of those weeks where I worked my heart out and felt like my job was on the line still. Eventually it occurred to me that for the last two months I’ve been trying to do the best that I can on my own, without God’s help. It seems so simple—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). I just wonder, why is trusting so hard?

When I began my pastry journey two years ago, I felt God’s hand moving me through application all the way through completion of my certificate program. Even when I found my jobs, I sensed the go-ahead from the Lord. This last week, though, I felt very alone, discouraged, and tired of trying.

Then, this morning, after I finished my first Sunday brunch shift, about which I was extremely nervous, I found that my mother-in-law had emailed me a devotional from C.H. Spurgeon that read:
“Walk in your path of integrity with steadfast steps, and show that you are invincibly strong in the strength which confidence in God alone can confer. Thus you will be delivered from anxious care, you will not be troubled with evil tidings, your heart will be fixed, trusting in the Lord. How pleasant to float along the stream of providence!”

I love how the Lord provides little bites of delicious sustenance just when we’re about to wither in our steps. God gives us callings, gifts, abilities, skills, opportunities, and wide berths for movement (sometimes). Within these possessions, He also requires of us to trust Him in return for our success. Trusting Him with these things not only secures our own confidence, but should put us into a vacuum from anxiety, frustration, and discouragement. But when we allow those feelings and voices to seep into our hearts, we open the vacuum for these negative things to overflow—and, oh, will they!

For you who can relate to my week, be encouraged! You are capable, you are competent, you are able to do a great job and work well. With the Lord as your strength, He can make all things possible, and thankfully He always leaves room for improvement—He gives us grace! I encourage you to go into your work this week wholly trusting in He who will make your path straight. Amen!
 

School has started back up and everything is in full swing. This also means SHINE/myMISSION at Campbell University is starting back up! We had our first meeting of the semester tonight.  The first night was an introduction to everyone that came and what SHINE: myMISSION is itself. This semester we will be alternating between a Bible study (the myGod study) and a more traditional campus ministry group worship. We will also be partnering with places in the community and on campus to do missions. All summer we have been planning and praying for SHINE. I’m so excited to see where God is going to take us this semester and how he is going to shape us.

We have been praying especially for freshmen, that they will be interested in SHINE: myMISSION and that we can grow through the incoming freshmen class. Well, God certainly answered that prayer. Tonight at our first meeting, we had ONLY freshmen. It was the biggest crowd we’ve had and all but 3 were freshmen! God definitely answered our prayer of sending us freshmen, now we just need some sophomores, juniors, and seniors to round things out a little.

While I was listening to all of them talk about their first week of college, I started thinking about my freshman year and all the things I didn’t know then. There are a lot of things that, had I known then, would have made life a little smoother. I wouldn’t have struggled through certain things, but I also wouldn’t have learned certain things either. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t know those things. Coming into college knowing everything would have made life easier, but I wouldn’t have learned nearly as much—both inside and outside of the classroom. God doesn’t always reveal to us the entire plan for our lives but instead leads us one step at a time. The experiences I had from ‘not knowing’ strengthened and gave wisdom to my faith.

I’m actually reading a book right now written by one of my professors that talks about this. In this book Theology Remixed, Dr. Adam English says, “…what we are seeking here is wisdom of faith, not simply knowledge about faith…Wisdom of the faith is internal, transformative, and communal; it is not open to just any inquiring mind – it must be experienced by the open heart so that ‘the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit’ (Rom 8:16).” When I first read this statement, I wasn’t entirely sure why I liked it; I just knew that I did. I thought about it for a while and realized I like the combination of “wisdom” and “faith.” I have never heard it phrased like that and I like the meaning the two words create. Wisdom is knowing God, being God-focused in thoughts, decisions, and seeking truth. Faith is trust, believing, cleansing, and salvation.

So how does all this relate to doing missions on a college campus? I struggled for a long time to answer that question because that is, after all, what this blog is suppose to be about. I finally came to the conclusion that this blog doesn’t relate to missions on a college campus, but it does relate to college students doing missions. Sometimes we need to stop and reflect on our own “wisdom of faith.” What situations, experiences, people, relationships, or other events have strengthened your “wisdom of faith”? It’s good to step back, reflect, and feed yourself.

Creator God, thank you for giving us experiences that grow and move us in our faith.

Thank you to so many of you who prayed for me and my team as we journeyed to Uganda last month.  I wish I could sit down with every one of you, tell you the stories, and show the pictures of the Lord’s provision. He was so sweet to us.

Around two months before I left on my trip, my 7-year-old daughter Faith had an unusual dream. She came downstairs and told me about how she had seen a woman who was pregnant and died, leaving her baby behind. She said that she felt the Lord had given her this dream and that we were to pray for this baby. Now, as you can imagine, I did not know what to do with this information. We prayed together and the days following she continued to bring the story up, urgently asking me to pray for this baby. Faith, who has a flair for the dramatic side of life, has been known to exaggerate. Was this an over- the-top example of that? My over-analytical-mom-side came out. She has gone off the deep end…I knew I should have never started homeschooling her…worse case scenarios started rolling around in my head. 

Her urgency and the strange nature of the request caused me to bring it to my Bible study group. I wasn’t sure exactly how I should respond. My friends reassured me that surely there was someone like that out there in the world. If God was leading her to pray, I did not want to be the one to shut it down. It may not be a usual 7-year-old request, but didn’t God start talking to Samuel when he was a kid in his sleep sharing with him some extraordinary things? So we continued to pray, not knowing if we would ever have the opportunity to meet this baby. 

Fast forward a couple months and 7,748.499 miles. I am sitting in a remote church in Kisoro on the Uganda-Congo border on a Sunday morning. Two hours into the service, a lady walks in with a sweet baby. The baby’s mom had died and she had traveled there to adopt the baby and care for it. She had come to the church to ask for prayer dedicating the baby to the Lord. As she carried this precious baby girl up to the platform where I was sitting, my spirit stirred and I began to wonder, “Lord could this be the baby?” As soon as my pastor began to pray a blessing over this baby, the Holy Spirit almost engulfed the stage. Gratefully, one of the friends from my Bible Study group was with me and we both started buzzing about. This was the baby! The Holy Spirit confirmed it in both of us!  

As soon as the service was over, I had to call Faith. "I met your baby; honey, I met your baby!” She was so excited. “Mom, I knew it. I knew it. I prayed and prayed for that baby!” What a builder of “faith” for our whole team, but most especially for me as a mom. I have come to know the voice of the Lord in my own heart, but I have to begin to trust the voice of the Lord in my children as well. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.” We might never have met the baby my daughter was praying for. Do I trust God enough to pray diligently even if I have no proof? Will I walk in faith of a God Who speaks through donkeys and bushes and 7-year-old girls? Will it make me that really weird mom? Yes. That’s the mom I want to be. It’s ok…I was never part of the cool club anyway.

At this moment in my life I feel like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. You know, the scene where he’s running through the vast Wonderland clutching his pocketwatch and repeating, “I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye—I‘m late, I’m late, I’m late.”

Why, you ask? This year not only is my husband back in school, but my precious Silas is entering Kindergarten. Can you hear it; the Imperial March, the music that plays when Darth Vader walks in? The exciting part to this new adventure is that we are homeschooling.

My Elementary Education background comforts me a bit, but there is something different about being responsible for the education of other’s children and then your own. So now there is a new hat to wear and daily obligation on my calendar. Just envision a lady holding a pole with plates stacked one on top of the other, with bowls, salad plates, and a tea cup and saucer and they are all spinning. There is a delicate balance involved with all the activities, opportunities, and expectations that I am committed to and enjoy being a part of.

I do not want family or friends to feel slighted when I am spending time with them because I am in a rush to get to the next item on my daily agenda. I am sure that there will be times when I will have to say, “I would love to but I cannot” if asked to do something that tips my balancing act.

As a leader there are times when it is okay to delegate to someone else for help and support. It is important that the group you are leading does not see you as a “One Woman Show”. In moments when I have been guilty of this I have discovered there are few individuals who offer to help because, from their perspective, you have it all taken care of. I honestly believe for a group to function at its optimum potential, all participants should feel equal ownership and share responsibilities. I encourage you to try sharing the responsibilities and ASK for help or assistance to lighten your load.

SHINE On!
Jen

“Full hands of empty now long forgotten
Along with the view I thought was rock bottom.
You’ve lifted me from the ashes of excess
And ridded me of the rags of riches.
From the boredom of reruns and lifelong delays,
The dull ache of wanting, the need to repay,
My chains have been broken,
Locks snapped in two,
Replaced now by vision
That’s only from You.

“You’ve lifted me up, taken me beyond gates
Set me free to live now in Your grace
To You I turn my eyes and my way
This is more than mere story or a play

“There’s a race to be run and my heart’s on fire,
To bless Your Name is my best desire.
What You’ve placed in my hands is here for Your use
For what’s bound to unbind and bidden to loose
Is all for Your Kingdom come now on the earth
In my heart
On the street
In Your

Church

“I’m letting go,
trusting,
lifting up my hands
To go out and follow Your commands;
To reach the needy with Your good gifts—
Your Love, Christ Jesus, has led to this.
It’s Your Love, Jesus, You’re Love
I seek to give.”

I discovered this piece when I hunkered down to go through a pile of old journals this week. Well, I guess no one ever quite hunkers down to do a thing like that. It just happens, as it did for me. A little sitting, a little glancing, a little procrastination of what needed to be done, and—voila—I found myself hunkered for some memories.

They were amazing, those memories. Some surprised me at their silliness (why I ever thought I would like to recall some of what I found beguiles me), and others at their otherness. The latter category is where this piece lies. Not so much for its artistry, but for the moment it represents. It is for that moment that I venture to even share.

Sharing comes easily for me in certain areas. I can share my feelings and convictions freely on just about any topic. I usually do not have a difficult time mustering a sermon or Bible lesson, and I definitely do not have a problem with sharing about my day (my sweet man can attest to that), but these words are different. They are different because I put them together in response to God.

It is not the most delicately pieced poetry, and it may not be poetry at all, but that is just the point. I would love to take a class on creative writing, but I do not have to wait until then to make something of worth. I do not have to wait to create something that might be a blessing to my sisters and brothers, and that fact has very little to do with me. This piece is worth sharing because it was crafted in the shadow of the Creator. In that shadow, in that encounter with God’s love—the proponent of God’s own work of creation, of making all things new!—one cannot help but be inspired to something. One cannot help but to dream, hope, grow, create…

And these few ramshackle lines are proof of that. They mark a moment of God’s gracious movement, and maybe a specific season of God’s creative work in me. Sure, they probably would not be featured in some volume of lovelies. Sure, they do not even have a name. But these lines represent a moment of heaven touching earth, a hint of God’s grace, and evidence that Love creates.

Leanna lives, works, sing, and writes in Birmingham, Alabama. She is a recent graduate of Samford University with a major in Religion. Leanna hopes you feel confident today as you walk with the Lord, and that you may realize your freedom to create.

I had the opportunity to work in a Christian environment for two and a half years after I finished graduate school before God launched me out into the deep waters of the real world. I had many frustrations within this environment, but fortunately, did not have to worry about the slurry of bad words that would wither my dear mother’s heart, and most of my colleagues were happy in their work despite the multitude of reasons we had to complain.

Once I started job shadowing in bakeries and restaurants, my world began to shake. Coworkers were using language that seemed the opposite of the sugary sweet products we were preparing. And there was always something to complain or gossip about: “I don’t get paid enough to do these extra things they’re asking me to do…” “No social life for me since I have to work all the time…” “I really don’t like this customer. He/she holds up the line, asks pointless questions, and never buys anything…” and on and on. Then the vortex opened, and in an effort to relate to the ones I was working with, the same unsightly vocabulary slipped from my lips! 

What do you think about coarse language? Personally, it’s a struggle—is it a matter of semantics, like “crap” vs. “another four-letter word”, or is it the meaning behind the words? Truthfully, sometimes I curse, either in my thoughts or aloud. It’s almost like a release, a seemingly better option than punching a wall or a pillow. Most times, though, I wish I would’ve made it out of the situation using real words and ask the Lord’s forgiveness for my sour mindset.

Maybe your work situations are tamer, less volatile. Still, the choice to complain can be overwhelming. Peter complained that Gentile believers were getting the same perks as circumcised believers and Paul nipped that complaint in the bud (Galatians 2) by pointing out Peter’s hypocrisy to his face. Many times our complaints or gossip voice our own hypocrisies, fears, and prejudices—sometimes we don’t even see it in ourselves. But just as Paul faced Peter, he exhorts us to take our words and actions seriously, and consider our thoughts (Philippians 4:8), words (Philippians 2: 14-16), and attitudes (Philippians 1:27) as we maneuver our ways in the world.

How do you deal with pressures of speech in your workplace or home? Do you have any Scriptures to help you keep a right attitude while you’re in a volatile environment? “Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). How can you share the honeycomb today?

We, as a society, sometimes put labels on people based on how they look, their background, or their lifestyle. We stop seeing the person and only see someone who is homeless, a socially-unexpected couple, or the person from a different culture. Basically, we see the label we have attached and not the person. It creates a barrier that is difficult to remove.

Thankfully, God does not see labels. He looks at us with love and sees His beautiful creation. We are taught from an early age to try to be Christ-like. That includes trying to see people the way God sees them and love them the way Christ does.

This summer, God showed me how important this is. I spent a month in Macedonia. I saw parents sending their children to beg for money, believers surrounded by persecution, and a lot of brokenness. Every day I saw something that broke my heart more than the day before. I wanted to abandon my life in America, move to Macedonia, and love on people. Then it hit me one day; I shouldn’t have to go halfway around the world to find things that break my heart, there is plenty of things in my own community that SHOULD break my heart the same way the people in Macedonia did.

I can’t drive to Raleigh without seeing a homeless person standing on the side of the road. Sometimes, walking around campus, I see people who are outcast or clearly hurting. I realized my heart broke for the people in Macedonian, but it doesn’t always break for people I pass everyday who are hurting. I wasn’t seeing the people in my day-to-day life as beautiful creations of God. I was seeing a label I had attached to them. I avoided certain people because of labels I or society had put on them. Jesus hung out with people who had pretty negative labels attached to them, but he didn’t care. He loved them because they were created by God. If I am truly trying to live a Christ-like life, I need to do the same.

God has really challenged me to see people the way he does. Living on a college campus means I am surrounded by all types of people all the time. There are people from all different walks of life with different backgrounds, beliefs, lifestyles, and situations. My prayer right now is that God will open my eye so I can really see the people around me. God is also challenging me to respond. It is not enough to see the person struggling and pray for them before I go to bed. I need to make time for people, to sit and just get to know someone, to provide food or a hygiene kit for someone in need. Seeing people with through loving eyes is only the first step. We have to respond.
Are there people in your life you look past or only see a label?

Creator God, give me eyes to see, an open heart to love, and the willingness to serve.