The other day, I walked into my house after physical therapy and I was excited to see my husband. Shortly after crossing the threshold to our home, I was hit with a nasty smell that threw me back. Stephen had a head cold, so needless to say, he didn’t understand when I bolted out of the room grabbing my nose. We both quickly tried to figure out what the smell was. Stephen had just made a simple lunch with some veggies wrapped inside corn tortillas. I darted into the kitchen to try to find out where the smell was coming from. The kitchen was filled with the stench. Unable to determine which ingredient was the problem, I began to get ready to leave the house again for our next meeting. Stephen followed me to the back of the house with his plate of food and the smell followed him. Since the smell had filled the entire house now, we both determined to find the culprit especially since he was digesting whatever this raunchy smell was. With one blow of the nose, Stephen could identify that I indeed wasn’t being dramatic and he knew it was the broccoli. Broccoli?! How on earth did a small portion of broccoli stink up the house?I quickly realized that the broccoli had been in a pyrex for a week hence the smell. We laughed and decided it would be best if our friends who were coming to pick us up didn’t enter our house :-)

Not unlike the broccoli, it sometimes only takes one small area of my heart to stink for it to effect my entire heart or attitude. Stephen had about 6 ingredients in his food that day, but only one that really stunk. What was even worse is that Stephen’s clogged nose prevented him from smelling the bad food. Once I pointed this out to him and he was able to smell on his own, he wished he had known the broccoli was bad. Sometimes we aren’t able to know when our hearts and attitudes stink. We can tell that other areas are in check and flourishing, but if we aren’t careful even those areas can begin to be infected as well. It just takes one wrong motive, one repetitive negative thought, or complaint to begin to work it’s way into other areas.

2 Corinthians 2:15(NLT) says, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.” This means that the sacrifice of our lives, by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following Jesus is pleasing and acceptable to God. Our lives when lived in our flesh give off a displeasing odor that repels the glory of God. It’s when we yoke ourselves with the Spirit of God and follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus, that we exchange our filth for a beautiful aroma. A heart that is whole, pure and lovely.

I recently hugged someone who means a great deal in my life and has been a mentor to me. When you stand around this person, you can’t smell their fragrance at all, but when they hug me, I’ll smell like them the rest of the day. It’s not an overpowering “Woah! Too much cologne/perfume!” reaction, but one that softly lingers on my coat or sweater sleeve the rest of the day. If we desire to obtain the fragrance of Christ, we must not simply be “around” Him in His word, but be close enough to His heart to receive His embrace and thus, leave smelling like we’ve been near to the One.

Principle for today: Take inventory of what “stinks” in your heart today. Close friends and family who LOVE you are often good people to go to for examining your heart. Above that, Holy Spirit is faithful to search your heart and reveal areas where you could surrender and receive the grace of His spirit.

The other day, I walked into my house after physical therapy and I was excited to see my husband. Shortly after crossing the threshold to our home, I was hit with a nasty smell that threw me back. Stephen had a head cold, so needless to say, he didn’t understand when I bolted out of the room grabbing my nose. We both quickly tried to figure out what the smell was. Stephen had just made a simple lunch with some veggies wrapped inside corn tortillas. I darted into the kitchen to try to find out where the smell was coming from. The kitchen was filled with the stench. Unable to determine which ingredient was the problem, I began to get ready to leave the house again for our next meeting. Stephen followed me to the back of the house with his plate of food and the smell followed him. Since the smell had filled the entire house now, we both determined to find the culprit especially since he was digesting whatever this raunchy smell was. With one blow of the nose, Stephen could identify that I indeed wasn’t being dramatic and he knew it was the broccoli. Broccoli?! How on earth did a small portion of broccoli stink up the house?I quickly realized that the broccoli had been in a pyrex for a week hence the smell. We laughed and decided it would be best if our friends who were coming to pick us up didn’t enter our house :-)

Not unlike the broccoli, it sometimes only takes one small area of my heart to stink for it to effect my entire heart or attitude. Stephen had about 6 ingredients in his food that day, but only one that really stunk. What was even worse is that Stephen’s clogged nose prevented him from smelling the bad food. Once I pointed this out to him and he was able to smell on his own, he wished he had known the broccoli was bad. Sometimes we aren’t able to know when our hearts and attitudes stink. We can tell that other areas are in check and flourishing, but if we aren’t careful even those areas can begin to be infected as well. It just takes one wrong motive, one repetitive negative thought, or complaint to begin to work it’s way into other areas.

2 Corinthians 2:15(NLT) says, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God.” This means that the sacrifice of our lives, by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and

My sweet husband got up 20 minutes earlier than me today in order to help load our luggage and prepare lunch to take as we traveled. We went to some morning training sessions and hit the road around lunchtime. I was excited to eat my specially prepared meal, but realized we were in need of some water and forks :) We pulled into a local Panera and Stephen decided that he’d get out and go inside. I stayed behind and waited in the car. All of a sudden, I get the urge to go look in the back of our car. I’m still not sure why I did this, but that was what I felt to do. As I open the back of my SUV and start digging around our bag of snacks, I saw a few people walking my way. On one quick glance, I can tell that one of these individuals is mentally handicapped. I continued to look through my things and felt someone walk past me and I saw that she was the driver. The other 3 in the group walked slower than she and I could tell they all had some handicaps. I began short conversation with the driver and immediately had the attention of the whole group. One sweet girl hugged me intensely and all I had said was, “Hi!”. The driver said to this girl, “Personal space…she needs her personal space.” To which I replied, “Oh no, she’s fine”. I continued conversation and found out this woman who’d embraced me was named Lynn. As conversation progressed I saw a very large thick book in her hands with a lion on the spine. I said, “What is that book you’re reading?” To which when she moved her hand I read, “Africa”. I smiled as she told me the title and exclaimed her joy about how much she loved Africa. My heart leapt and I shared how my husband and I are missionaries to Africa. She got so excited and reiterated her love for Africa. It was the neatest thing in the world to her that we had been there.

Stephen returned to our car and I could tell the others in the group were making their way into their car, so we parted ways. In getting back into the car, my heart was so happy. How neat of God to cause a “detour” in our day to make this one girl’s day.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make our day. For me, today it is sitting outside writing this blog after eating my favorite fro-yo (shameless plug for Yolotti). Some other days it’s a moment of dancing in the kitchen with my husband, sharing laughter with friends, or a cup of good coffee. What is so great is that God uses me to be a part of making other people’s days. Most people just need to know that someone loves and cares about them. God chooses us to be instrumental in bringing His love and joy as we’re open to being His vessels.

The principle for today is: Be intentional to pursue people!!

The kingdom of God is made up of people. God sent His only Son, Jesus Christ who died so that people could be in right standing with God. People are at the heartbeat of this beautiful Savior and He freely shares His heart for others to those who are willing to ask for it. I know that days are busy and I realize there are a lot of personal things we have to take care of. I also know that it can be the smallest amount of time and energy that we yield ourself to His Holy Spirit that can impact someone else’s life for eternity.

I’m certainly not saying that my Africa comment changed someone’s life today, but this precious girl reminded me again of how important it is to pursue people. More times than not, as I take time interact with people, I walk away with my life greatly enhanced. Today, there was a stranger who embraced me with great love and acceptance immediately upon meeting me. She shared her heart with me for Africa and made me realize that maybe we weren’t so different after all. Maybe our ways of life contrast one another greatly, but there is a God with the same amount of love in His heart for both of us and He planted Africa in both of our hearts.

*Look for someone to compliment today.
*Be aware that everyone is human and you never know why someone is having a bad day.

Wow, well today I became an official missionary with the Assemblies of God alongside of my husband. I was so excited to see the faithfulness of God and feel His presence even in the boardroom. I had prayed for some specific things in that meeting and they all came to pass. I felt His nearness.Right after hearing that I’d been approved, we headed to have lunch with a few other missionaries and I got distracted from the good news. Once we were through with lunch,I went to text my friend and I said, “Well, I am an approved missionary.” Then the tears came. Stephen came back to me and asked why I was crying and I couldn’t even find words. Honestly, it’s not that I put all of my hope in an organization or felt the need to justify my heart to be a missionary before man, but it was affirmation I felt today from The Lord of His calling for my life. It was a delight to share my testimony with others. I began to reflect on my life and see His beautiful hand that designed me and called me His own. He knew in my messiest of situations that I’d be here one day as an appointed missionary to Africa. Wow. I’m forever grateful for the moments where Africa and the nations were dropped in my heart. I remember the video of Haiti that I saw in 2003 with the song, “You Said” that made my heart break for the lost. I can recall being a little girl playing with giraffe statues my mom had and falling in love with Elephants and later on Kenya, Africa. I am beyond thankful for the late Pastor Billy Joe and Pastor Sharon Daugherty and their obedience to His call of missions that so radically changed my life. There are so many more who have influenced me in the way of missions from their own beautiful stories and encouraging my heart.

What a joyous moment it was for Stephen too who’d prayed for a wife to come alongside of him and help him in his ministry. God is faithful and really answers prayer! When we seek Him and ask Him for His heart, He gives us His desires and willingly shares His heart. I am excited for all He has in store! Not that it has been or will be easy, but I love partnering with His heart.

Principle for today: God answers prayer! Don’t relent in prayer by asking, seeking and knocking. God will not withhold His hand from your life! He has good and glorious plans for you!

The red vest and sneakers should have been a clue but I didn’t notice them at first. Stephen and I were simply walking down a hall and caught up in our own conversation. As we approached the elevator at the end of the hall, I greeted the woman standing there. Side Note: If you ever encounter me on an elevator or hallway, you’ll most likely receive a compliment or at least a charge to have a good day. This moment was no different and I could tell this woman’s heart was heavy. I noticed her shoes had a very thick high sole in the back and I made a comment a out how comfy they must be. She replied that she’s on her feet 8 hours a day and needed good support. As we entered the elevator I noticed her name tag, “Sue” and began further dialogue with her. I asked what she did for 8hours on her feet to which she replied that she was on maintenance staff at this building. I said,”oh well that makes sense to have good shoes then!” I went on to thank her for her hard work and all that she does. I watched as her countenance and posture changed. Her reply, “wow well thank you very much. No one really ever says anything like that. I only hear something if I’m doing something wrong.” My heart ached. By now we’d reached our floor and I exited the elevator with another thankful comment and blessing her to have a good day. She cheerfully but quietly went the other way.

As Stephen and I headed towards our car, he said, “Well, there’s your blog entry for the day!” My heart was heavy to communicate this principle that is HUGE on my heart: be thankful!!! Romans 1:21 says,” because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” When you aren’t thankful, your heart becomes darkened and calloused and you can not see God, yourself or others rightly. Here we had Sue who’s name was printed on her vest and name badge working hard in a position none would envy and hardly receives a simple “Thank you! Good job!” Not to mention she worked in a Christian facility. This is not to discourage anyone, but merely to give an exhortation that opportunity surrounds all of us to be more thankful!

We have to keep gratitude in our hearts, words and actions. When we don’t thank God, we can become offended or drift away. When we aren’t thankful for others we can become prideful or cynical. God desires that we be thankful so that we may walk in love and humility.

I’ve taken this lady’s name, “Sue” and broken it down as an acronym to show areas we need to guard in order to be thankful.
3 giants I believe steal thankfulness are not limited to but include;

S-selfishness
When we think only about ourselves and our concerns, we won’t abide in God’s leadership or extend love to others.

U-unappreciate
When we aren’t thankful as we’ve already discussed, we open our lives to be full of confusion and misguided purposes forged in our own strength.

E-entitlement
Ouch! This one hurts but it is so vital! The moment we think that we’re “better than” or “more deserving” than someone else is the moment we lose ground in our hearts and lives for Holy Spirit to move. Jesus taught strongly that this type of heart posture would get no where in the kingdom of God. When we view our our labors as more significant and worthy of compensation than those around us, we will be gravely disappointed upon learning the truth of the kingdom of God.

The scripture in Romans 1:21 is so clear that our minds become clouded and confused and we become self focused when we are not thankful. My desire is that you would recognize where you have some “Sue”s in your life. Both issues in the acronym and people who you can sincerely thank. As you do, I believe you’ll grow deeper in your love for God and walk in more joy and freedom.

*Find 3 things to thank God about daily. This shows your need for His love and lordship in your life.

*Find someone to thank everyday. This will keep humility and love flowing through your life and prevent you from isolation and cold heart.

“I’ve been praying for YOU!”, said with emphasis by many people in reference to praying me in to be Stephen’s wife. Now these kind of people didn’t always pray for me by name, but they did agree that Stephen would have a wife who loved the Lord and could partner with him in missions. It’s always funny to me to meet some of these people and hear their stories. The other evening we had dinner with probably one of the sweetest couples in the world! They are in their 80s now and Stephen used to live with them. Brilliant minds and BIG hearts and they have faithfully prayed for Stephen’s wife everyday until I came. The husband actually had an inpatient surgery the week of our wedding and still drove 8 hours roundtrip to attend. As we pulled out of their driveway the other night, my heart was deeply moved. These people out of deep love partnered with my husband to pray me in. They probably never missed a day and came into knowing me with a great heart of love.

This is the power of partnering in prayer for someone. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me years ago, “Don’t tell someone you’ll pray for them if you won’t”. I made this a heart posture to be faithful in the place of praying for others. I’m not 100% sharp on memory all of the time, but I do try my best to remember prayer requests and faithfully follow up with these. The reality is there is such power in prayer and it’s two fold. One is that you are agreeing for God’s healing power, provision, love etc. to come about in one’s life. The second is that your diligence to pray and speak the life and love of God over someone enlarges your heart for that person and situation.

Stephen and I have made it a commitment to pray for our families, friends, nations and government everyday together. Somedays it’s a simple 5 minute time before bed and other times there are several prayers throughout the day for a Praying for you

“I’ve been praying for YOU!”, said with emphasis by many people in reference to praying me in to be Stephen’s wife. Now these kind people didn’t always pray for me by name, but they did agree that Stephen would have a wife who loved the Lord and could partner with him in missions. It’s always funny to me to meet some of these people and hear their stories. The other evening we had dinner with probably one of the sweetest couples in the world! They are in their late 70s and early 80s now and Stephen used to live with them. Brilliant minds and BIG hearts and they have faithfully prayed for Stephen’s wife everyday until I came. The husband actually had an inpatient surgery the week of our wedding and still drove 8 hours roundtrip to attend. As we pulled out of their driveway the other night, my heart was deeply moved. These people out of deep love partnered with my husband to pray me in. They probably never missed a day and came into knowing me with a great heart of love.

This is the power of partnering in prayer for someone. I felt the Holy Spirit say to me years ago, “Don’t tell someone you’ll pray for them if you won’t”. I made this a heart posture to be faithful in the place of praying for others. I’m not 100% sharp on memory all of the time, but I do try my best to remember prayer requests and faithfully follow up with these. The reality is there is such power in prayer and it’s two fold. One is that you are agreeing for God’s healing power, provision, love etc. to come about in one’s life. The second is that your diligence to pray and speak the life and love of God over someone enlarges your heart for that person and situation.

Stephen and I have made it a commitment to pray for our families, friends, nations and government everyday together. Somedays it’s a simple 5 minute prayer time before bed and other times there are several prayers throughout the day for a specific individual or circumstance on our hearts. There is nothing legalistic in diligently lifting up those you love. It edifies your spirit and allows you to feel part of God’s heart and appreciate people more. I’ve seen time and time again the fruit in relationships with whom I’ve prayed for and received prayer from.

Even today, I needed God’s grace and favor and friends to uplift me. I’m so thankful to have friends who love Jesus and will contend for His will for my life. Jesus interceded for His disciples and all of mankind when He was on the Earth even upon the cross! This is a model of what we should do and how we should pray to the Father in the Son’s name for His Spirit to be poured out in our lives.

Practical Tips:
*If you don’t have anyone you’re praying for on a regular basis I encourage you to make a list even if it’s just one name, country or situation. Some people do better with lists, I do better with a prayer map of the nations (and write in the margins those in the US). I guarantee your life will flourish with the love and compassion of Jesus.

*When you pray for them, try to get later on encourage them with a scripture or words that show you believe in them.

*The best time to pray for someone is when you think of it ;) Seriously, write them a note on Facebook, send a text/email, whatever it is and tell them that you’re praying for them. (note: don’t do this while driving ;-) ) If you can’t contact them right then, pray for them and ask Holy Spirit to remind you to encourage them later. I’ve been known to write people’s initials on my hands at various times so that I don’t forget that they were on my heart. Once God knows you’ll be obedient to pray, it’s amazing the things He wants you to partner in prayer for.

*Lastly, if there is ANYONE that you feel that you can not pray for, pray for them :-) Several years ago, God challenged me and told me to pray for someone I didn’t like that the time. He told me to pray for them like I would want someone to pray for me and I did. Today, this person is close in my life and it’s powerful to walk with an upright heart and not be weighed down in bitterness.

Today I found myself eating out of my cooler with my nice lunch that my husband so lovingly prepared for me. The reason for this is because of some food sensitivities. I ate my gluten free, hormone free turkey, cheese and organic spinach sandwich. The people who joined me in lunch came with their pizza, pop, cookies, and brownies. Now, let me preface my next series of thoughts with this; I love sweets and I love pizza. That being said, in MODERATION and with the right natural ingredients, some things are ok. Now I will never suggest drinking a pop here and there, because the fact is there are added chemicals you should avoid. I say this because the thought dawned on me that even though I was sitting with others, I was separated. Now partially because of things that I chose to do, but also allergies in my life prevent me from just enjoying just any ole food item. Honestly, as frustrating as it can be at times, I am thankful for the health journey that I’ve been on. I have learned a lot from health struggles and now I love being healthier and helping others implement the right things into their diet.

My food situation parallels my spiritual walk in some ways. When we give our lives to Jesus, we become a son or a daughter of God. We are now a citizen of Heaven. Our spirits our new, but until we die, our physical bodies live here on earth. There are now changes to in our lives. Once we surrender, there are things that you have to cut out of your life because you now know better. The motivation to eradicate these things should be LOVE because you love God, His son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit. This should be because you’ve been receiving love. God is holy which means He’s separate. He calls us to separate ourselves from sin because He can not dwell with sin because He is holy. This does not mean He ever quits loving us, but explains why He so eagerly desires that we let go of sin in our lives.

Just today I went to grab some creamer for coffee. I was left with two options of creamer that were full of artificial colors, preservatives and words I can hardly pronounce. I use organic full fat creamer at home with no odd additives and I wanted some coffee, but not at the risk of putting a bunch of chemicals in my body. My husband lovingly stopped for me to get coffee with regular half and half on the way to our morning meeting. I say this to share that God is not asking us to separate because He’s just mean and doesn’t want us to have fun. He knows that just like the unnecessary chemicals in creamer, that sin is something that can be avoided and isn’t needed in our lives. To be honest, the real thing, His love is more pleasurable than sin is. Just like food, once you eradicate the artificial things, you learn that you have a taste for the real fresh life giving thing. A separation from things of sin will cause a genuine hunger for the things of God.

God by His Holy Spirit is challenging you to learn His goodness and receive His mercy. He is good and desires the best for your life. Sure it may be uncomfortable to pull yourself aside and “stand out”, but your life will yield much more pleasant fruit in the end.

Today was my first day of training with the missions organization that my husband is a part of. Our morning activities were full of team dynamics. We broke up into small groups and shared things about ourselves and then did a timeline of our spiritual journeys. Later on, we did personality assessments. First of all, I’ve found myself in these type of leadership development and team trainings numerous times and it never gets old. Secondly, I love studying personalities and interacting with others as they discover more of who they are. Due to being heavily sanguine personality, (outgoing people person) I certainly thrive in such environments.

Sitting there today I was reminded of how uniquely God created everyone. I have enjoyed every time God has come and revealed my identity to me and helped me love who I am.
When I was younger, the only thing I ever got in trouble for in school was talking too much. I’d get bored with a task and I would get up and attempt to talk to friends scattered around the room. While there was obviously some discipline that needed to be implemented in this characteristic, it was a way that God designed me to relate and love on others. Sometimes personality quirks are misunderstood by others, but God often has very specific reasons for making that person that way.
There are many things that God wants to show us about ourselves so that we would flourish. After all, He created us and knows the best purposes for our lives. We, His creation move into confusion when we begin to operate outside of who the Creator fashioned us to be. We bring God the greatest glory when we operate fully as those He’s called us to be.
Principle for today: let the Creator reveal to you His unique creation of who you are.
Prayer: Father, sometimes I listen to other voices of who I am. I me shame, shortcomings, and comparison keep me back from walking in the identity You’ve created me for. Please reveal truth that I might walk in the fullness of who You’ve called me to be.

My husband sings all the time. Just today, we were walking out of a busy hospital building and he is just singing away to Jesus. I giggled as we passed many people as the thought came to me that this isn’t very normal. The reality is that Stephen and I both sing all the time and in all places and sometimes I forget how unusual that might appear to someone else. I grew up in a home where music was huge! I love music and the arts and have always been deeply moved by music. The difference between Stephen and I is that because I am so particular about music, I know the lyrics to songs. I take songs literally and can’t ever just “enjoy the beat”. Stephen however can take a worship song and sing his own lyrics to them. While this usually results in me laughing at moments to his remembrance of a lyric, I love this about him. He knows the basics of what the song is communicating and sings out of an overflow of his heart rather than only reciting words. It has been a huge lesson to me about lip service. Jesus isn’t after us writing the best worship lyrics or singing the right words, He wants our hearts to sing how we adore Him.

Whenever I gave my life to Jesus, I knew some of the things that I was listening to were a waste of my time because they were not edifying me or glorifying Jesus. I found myself tuning out all other music and listening to Rita Springer for an entire month thanks to an amazing youth leader I had who turned me on to her. My spirit got a sweet taste of what music was truly created for-to worship Him! Satan, or Lucifer was the angel in charge of worship in heaven before he rebelled. God places a lot of value on music/worship. Time and eloquent words would fail me to share with you how God planned everything to have a sound. Every star as a frequency, ever human voice different and unique. We were made to not just breathe for Him, but to live lives that expressed SOUND and adoration to Him! I believe this generation on the earth right now as an incredible opportunity to release worship like no other generation. This to me is why there are numerous singing shows/competitions and even a high amount of Bible school students who choose a worship emphasis. Jesus’ name deserves to be sung in the nations of the Earth. Holy Spirit desires to come and abide and strengthen believers as they praise. The Bible is full of stories of breakthrough in praise and worship. This is again, beyond lip service or your favorite Christian worship. Although I have many favorite worship artists and talented friends who’ve written incredible songs, this is about me and the song in my heart to Him. Nothing can compare to a song out of my own heart to the Worthy one.

I have found myself in some of the most beautiful moments either alone or in a corporate setting where singing to the beautiful One has captivated my entire heart. It’s amazing the freedom your mind and emotions can have as He is exalted above our circumstances.

Today’s Principle is to offer a sacrifice of praise unto Jesus. Begin to sing to Him and not just repeat the words that others have said, release your own heart to Him.