Love Becomes Her

Hello Blog World! To any that may find themselves reading this, I hope you are well and smiling :). I have a blog for you today, a bit out of the ordinary. It is something that I have been reading in the Bible and really thinking about for myself. I hope that it speaks to you, but to be perfectly honest, my husband is making me do it. You see, it pushes on my "uncomfortable button" a bit too much for my personal taste, but I am blessed enough to have married a man who loves me, encourages me beyond belief, and thinks, even when I don't, what I have to say is important and just might encourage people. He's been bugging me all week to do this and so here it is...

Earlier in the week I was reading the first few chapters of Acts and felt God really impress on my heart some verses and thoughts. So I just did what I normally do and journal them out. I had Brandon read what I had written (which I never do!) and he has encouraged me to put it on this blog for all the world to read... yikes!!! So I'm going to let you read my journal! Figuratively, of course! :) This is just an excerpt, straight from the pages of the sacred vault of my heart... no editing or rewriting, just as I wrote it that morning. I hope you get something out of it as it is something that I am very passionate about. The Church. More precisely, His Church. But, I'll just let you read it....

"Some thoughts I want to write down. 
Acts 2:44-45, ' Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.'
Acts 4:32, 34, ' Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul, neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common.
Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold.'
Acts 2:46, ' So continuing daily one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart.'
Thoughts:
- beginning of Acts tell of the beginning of the church in it's purest state. These were the relational characteristics of it
        1. generosity towards each other
        2. one accord - unity at the highest level (heart and soul)
        3. community
        4. breaking bread daily - fellowship daily
        5. looked out for each other's needs and met them
        6. gladness
        7. simplicity of heart*
Anyway, just a challenge of how are we, as The Church, living by this? Are we in this deep knitted of a community? Do we live generously towards each other or tight-fisted? Do we live with a common goal and purpose - do we see ourselves as a company of like-minded believers joined together to make the name of Jesus famous? Or do we merely just "go to church"? Our hearts need to be knitted together w/a single-minded/focused goal - making Jesus famous.
Fellowship - we need to not just meet each other's needs and live generously w/each other, but we need fellowship. Intertwine our lives w/one another. Live our lives together. People should be involved in our lives and we should be involved in theirs. People should regularly be in our homes and we should regularly be in theirs. 
*Through fellowship/relationship we will learn what their needs are and can meet them.
Simplicity of heart - no ulterior motives; pure --> we need the Holy Spirit and Christ's love to work in us toward this end.
I am sure the early church was messy but what a beautiful picture we get of true community and love for each other born out of a love for serving and knowing Jesus.
What a challenge to us in the world we live in this day. Where walls are our closest companions, not people. Where busyness is our mode of operation. 

Ending with this - 
John 13:35, ' By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.'
Pretty much says it all. This is the Church that Jesus' desires. A Church that loves each other like He loves. A Church that is knit together in pureness of heart (simplicity), w/one purpose and passion. A Church that intertwines our lives w/each others.
Do I do this? Is this how I see the Church? I said on Sunday for Jesus to move in my heart in such a way that I loved His Church like He did and could see her like He did. That I would be captured by what captured Him so much that He was willing to die for her. May I be willing to lay down my life in service to her, seeing her as Christ sees her, loving her as Christ loves her. This love starts with me."


I began to make a mental checklist of how the church is described by others (non believers and believers alike), and I came up with many things, Love being low on the list. Hypocritical, divisive, judgmental, pious, legalistic, elitist, money hungry, boring, funless (even a word??), among others. Now I realize these are generalities and there are many times we cannot help one's perceptions of us, no matter what we do. But if these are the common words to describe us then we have a problem.
Jesus, himself, said we are to be known by our love for each other, our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not the needy and poor "out there" (though that is well and right), but for those that are right next to us. Are people so blown away by how much we love each other within the church that they are drawn and compelled to be a part of it. Or are they turned away by how much we accuse and argue over trivial matters? How much we distance and pretend with each other? Or how "perfect" we are, all sinless and holy?
What are we known for? Love for the world, but despising each other? Quick to judge, whisper, and accuse but slow to embrace? Come on people, we are in this together! We have a mission - making Jesus famous on this earth and He said we will do that by our love for each other. That is how they'll know! It starts here, at Home, between you and me.

I'll end with this... if Jesus was so captured by a Bride of such great beauty that He was willing to leave the glory of heaven and give His very life for her, then maybe we should take note. Maybe there is something more to her. Maybe we should realize that while He died for us, the individual, He also died for us, the complete, whole picture of His glorious, beautiful, breath taking, heart capturing, head over heels silly in love with Bride. We are one in the same. I am her, the individual. And I am her, the corporate. And I better, better treat her right.

So that is all, just some thoughts that have been churning through my heart. I hope that maybe you get something out of this and we can all allow the Holy Spirit to work in our hearts so that, once again, we can be known on this earth by our love for one another. And in turn, Jesus' Bride will shine brighter and brighter with the glorious reflection of Him to the rest of the world, so that they may come and take their place within our Home.

Love to All. I pray this day you will know how amazingly special you are to the God of the universe who is intimately acquainted with you and STILL thinks the world of you!

XXX

     
    

Cupid's Exegesis

Happy (albeit a bit late) Valentine's Day to you!!! I love Valentine's, along with most every holiday! I always have and always will.
I love that, as a kid, my mom would take the time to spend days helping to decorate my "mailbox" for my valentine's party at school (I mean, c'mon people, this was a massive work of art happening!), or that I would always get cards from my parents and grandparents with little hearts and a quick rhyme about why I was their special Valentine. I loved searching through my pre-made, perforated valentines for just the right saying and "artwork" to go to my very best friend, or the chance to slip a "romantic" little quip to a fleeting crush. I mean, what better way to disguise our secret affections, however deep or shallow they may be, on a day when it is expected! Genius!!
I know to most people, Valentines holds a mix of emotions and expectations that really just give it a bad rep, or even erroneously forgoing an entire people group within our society. Oh what is being missed!
Valentine's Day is not about singling out the loved and unloved, creating some elitist holiday, but rather about celebrating the relationships in our life and giving expression to what is in our heart 365 (or 366 :) days of the year. In my family growing up, V Day was never relegated to just romantic feelings. We celebrated friendships, siblings, parents, children, grandparents, teachers, and even near strangers!
One of my favorite Valentine's ever, was when a group of us girls in high school spent the night together, and then proceeded to spend the whole day of Valentine's watching black and white movies while eating donuts. All day. It was awesome. We weren't feeling sorry for ourselves or spitting in the face of all things love and romance. We were just enjoying being together and the chance to celebrate our friendships with each other. Whatever it meant to them, I don't know, but to this day it still sits in my highlight of Valentine memories and a picture of the absolute potential of such a holiday.
We humans aren't typically good about opening our hearts to each other, even those we love the most. That is why we have books and seminars on the subject. Sometimes we just need a little help and the tools put in our hand to do so. And what a better tool than a whole day screaming the very value of humanity.YOU ARE LOVED AND YOU MATTER! Whatever the relationship.
I love that, growing up,  I was surrounded by, what I feel, is the true meaning of Valentines. I love that, regardless of my relational status, V Day gives me a chance to celebrate the people in my life and to meet the greatest human need of all time. Love.
I feel that I have fallen very short in this area (loving people, not celebrating holidays :) and fear that I do not always do a great job of modeling to my children what is in my heart. But it has been very good for our family to really come back to basics and make sure our foundation is strong at it's core. Our family had a great Valentine's day yesterday from home made cards, breakfast in bed for daddy, a Valentine Dance by Asher and Safari they choreographed themselves, home made pizza and watching Cars 2 together, to Asher and Safari's secret "garage sale" to raise money to buy us Valentine's presents (let's just say, I had to put a stop to that one :). I hope it is just the beginning of a lifetime of memories for my kids. I hope that they feel so loved and secure, that Valentine's is a day worth celebrating no matter what state of singleness or romance they find themselves in. I hope they are so able to love those around them that they are never at a loss for friends or meaningful relationships.
I am so thankful for the picture my parents painted year after year for me of what Valentines is about, and I hope and pray that I can do the same for my kids, but I pray that I do not stop there. I hope that whoever is in my life, for however long they are there, will feel that they were loved and valued by me.
Happy Valentine's everyone. And whatever state you find yourself in on Valentine's form here on out, listen to the day that is talking all about You.... You are Loved and You Matter.

XOXO

Here are some pics from our day... sorry there's not much but without an actual camera these days, we don't get a lot of pics of stuff right now

                                                     Asher's card for me... melt my heart <3

                                                       Getting ready to make pizza!!!

                                                          End result and ready for Cars 2!
                                               

I know it's been a long bit since my last blog in which I said I would be posting the continuing story of what started as the semester from hell.... well, sorry :). I started to write many blogs but it just wasn't.. right. I couldn't find the words. I couldn't express it. In fact, many days there were no words. No words at all.
Some days, it was just too deep to even express. It felt as if I put words to it too early, I would be defiling the holy ground that God was moving on within my heart. So I ended up just leaving it there for a bit. I hope that was okay with you.
There has been some time, some space, that I feel I can begin to put to words this unfolding journey God has me on. So, if you feel so obliged, come sit with me for a bit and let me share with you the depths of my heart. And I say that very, very purposefully...

Since the day our feet has hit the soil of this country God has pushed me, challenged me, debased me, and completely stripped me. Over and over again. Immediately, my world was rocked to it's core. Not just the semantics that a move like this brings of transition and getting resettled in life, etc. Not only was going to grocery store enough to put me in tears for the night, or the stress of running outside in the rain to grab my nearly dry laundry off the line just to have it smell like mildew for the next few days because I couldn't get it all the way dry in the heights of Sydney winter. Nevermind the frustration of having to pretend you understand what someone is saying when you actually haven't the slightest idea. Just smile and nod :)
All that seemed nothing compared to the utter crushing that God has been doing in me. When I say there where days I had no words, I mean I had no words. I would try and they just weren't there. Many times all I could do was just cry. In worship I would just cry. Many times my prayers were just tears pouring and pouring down from my face, from my heart. But honestly, those times that I couldn't speak were times I felt God so near to my heart. No words were needed. I knew He heard me when I couldn't say anything. He understood me when I couldn't understand myself. A year and a half and I haven't been able to understand what God was doing. I couldn't see it. He was always so near yet felt so vague.
But it wasn't just with God. Even with those around me, I just felt so.. lost. All the time. I never felt like myself. Normally someone who always has something to say and is usually full of passion for something going on inside her or around her, I felt completely silent and empty on a constant basis. And I succumbed to this silence and emptiness. 
It was during this time that I went from being completely crushed and broken down by God to being flattened and stretched farther than I ever have before. Much like when one uses a rolling pin to flatten dough, stretching it out a little farther every time. I felt so at my limit on every level I was afraid a nervous break down was in my very near future. This was during my semester from hell :).
I didn't know when to fight and when to submit. I didn't know what was God and what was the enemy. I could barely catch my breath and I had to constantly run to God just to keep sanity about me. My capacity to handle was pushed to it's utter limit. Handle what, you ask? Anything. The smallest thing required more than I had to give.
I felt like God was pushing me so much from the inside and it was showing up through my ability to handle pressures on the outside. And I just wanted Him to stop. Just so I could feel like a normal person again.
All this culminating with a break down in the dark, in my garage one day,with my dad on the phone from the other side of the world listening to me sobbing over the line. I was done. I was finished. I couldn't handle anymore.  So I quit. I quit both jobs I was working. I pulled out of singing in Kids. School was done for the semester so all my responsibilities were done for the year.
And I just breathed.
I felt completely different. Slightly scarred, but utterly at peace. Totally empty but ready to be filled. Completely broken down but in the hands of the Potter.
And it was in this breathing that He began to reveal.
It was at this moment that I realized a huge truth about myself. My complete and utter inability to just be. To be vulnerable. To be okay. To be still. To be God's daughter. To be the passion of Jesus' affection. To just be with Him. To just sit in His presence. To be transparent with others and let them in my heart. To be imperfect. To be me. As I am. Without all the answers. Without all the ability I need. Without having it all together. Without my facade, my barriers and walls that I didn't even know were there.
There were many, many other lessons I have learned and truths that God has revealed during these times but this one has been the heaviest for me. And the most challenging. A total redoing of my identity. How can I be when my whole life has been in doing? I realized then that I have built a life on letting what I do be what defines me. Take away what I do, and what do I have left? Not much. Just me. And that has always been my fear. That I am not enough. The soul-reaching fear that I am not enough in and of myself.
Though God has been dealing with this in me for many years it just went to whole other level this past year and a half. He has used circumstances and relationships in my life here to break me down so He can build me back up correctly. Firmly planted in my true identity.
I can be honest and say this is a journey because if you were to ask me what that identity is I don't think I know all the way, and what I do know I can't yet put into words.
But I hope I will live my life finding that out.

"Father, I pray that I will always first and foremost know what it means to be Your daughter above all. The daughter of my King. The bride of my Saviour and Lover of my soul. That if I never "do" anything for You, that I am enough for You, as I am, failures, weakness, and all. Help me, Jesus, to be a lover of Your presence above all else that has my heart. That in the midst of doing, I will first remember to be."

What a journey we are on. I don't know why I chose to write about this other than it is a feeble attempt to be on my part. To be transparent and vulnerable. To let people into my heart and be at peace that I wrote this first to Jesus, second to you. So whatever fears I would have about it I can lay it to rest, because the love letter of my life is already nestled away in His heart and my Father is already proud of me.

Ding! Round One!

Ephesians 6:10-18 (The Message)

" 10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

13-18 Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long."

At the beginning of this week I felt God lay this passage heavily on my heart. And I realized something (light bulb!). My family was in a battle season and had been for quite some time. I was just only now realizing it. Sometimes I can be a little dull-headed!

Since the beginning of the current semester (mid July) we have been facing oppostion after opposition in some capacity or another, either inwardly or outwardly. I started this semester so worn out from the past year that I could feel the enemy breathing down my neck and I had zero energy to do anything about it. A part of me really didn't even want to acknowledge that there was spiritual attack happening because then I would become accountable for it and frankly, I just didn't have it in me to care. So everyday I just took it and took it and took it.

Till one day, faced with what felt like a completely overwhelming task, I just said very simply, with very little drama and emotion, " God, I can't do this. I need You to fight for me. Release your angels to fight on my behalf or whatever it is that You do, I am asking You to do it." And I prayed the scripture, Psalm 46:10, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations."

Now, what I LOVE about this scripture is the pure authority in it. I know that many times people use this in the context of being still before the Lord, which is good and fine and perfectly applicable, but the true original intent is a war cry from the very mouth of God to the warring nations of the earth, demanding that they stop and submit to His authority. It is saying, "Cease and desist (stop, come to a stand); it is I, God, who will be exalted (placed in rank, honor, and power) in victory; you do not have a chance against me. " (Spirit-filled life Bible footnotes). I love that! It gives me chills inside!

And I love that as co-heirs in Christ and God as our Father, we can stand in that same place of authority in Him and tell the devil and the "warring nations" in our life, " You (relational strife, financial difficulties, temptations, negative thoughts, fear, anxiety, stress, or whatever the enemy is throwing your way), you better cease and desist, acknowledge and submit to the power, authority, and soveriegnity of my God." And so that is what I did. And the very atmosphere of my house changed that day.

So there I was in a place in myself where I felt nothing, had nothing, and wanted to do nothing. I just didn't have it in me to fight anything, much less the adversary of the whole human race! I could barely fight my own five year old to do his chores! But the second I just came simply as a daughter to my Dad, He answered and came in like a flood over our life. A beautiful, sweet, cascading flood over my soul.

And I got this revelation (one of those that you know but now you really know) that our authority in Christ is not in anything other than just simply standing on Truth. It is not in eloquent words, fervent emotion, or some massive spiritual experience. All it took was a moment in my bathroom as I was getting ready for my day. Ordinary. Everyday. Mundane.

I love that we, as ordinary and mundane people, can walk and declare the authority, victory, and soveriegnity of God in the ordinary and mundane places of our life. Washing the clothes, bathing the kids, cooking dinner, going to work or school, meeting with people, paying bills, etc. Wherever we meet opposition to the kingdom of God and us as His children (and Lord knows that is pretty much anywhere), we can declare the authority of God over that situation. We do not have to conjure up a feeling or emotion. We just walk in it. It just is. He is. It is finished.

He is a good God, a loving Daddy to His kids, and He wants to move on our behalf. He wants to rescue us, but He also wants us to learn to stand on our own two feet and grow in our authority in Him. And so, yes, it was a breakthrough. A much needed breakthrough. A give-me-air-to-breathe breakthough. And I thought the end of our story and battle season, but alas, only the beginning. Sigh. At least this time I had gotten some of my fight back. But I will save that for another day.

Be Blessed with the revelation that you are the son or daughter of the most high God of whom all creation stands in attention to, walking boldly in your authority through Christ!

xx

The Griffins

And I will end this post with one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies...

10,000 points to whoever can guess what movie it's from :)

"This is war, Peacock! You can't cook an omelette without breaking eggs. Every cook will tell you that!" " But look what happened to the cook!"

And so it begins....

So this week has been a week from hell, I am thinking quite literally and yes, figuratively as well. Starting even earlier with a little thing here and a little thing there (i.e. computer crashing, car window breaking, etc.). Just annoyances at first but then culminating into just more than I thought could happen in one week.

Paying three hundred dollars in what I personally deem "unnecessary" fines. Having a tyre (aka tire) blow. Repair. Next day, another tyre blows resulting in stranded car. Even more repair and lots of hassle. Losing $100 bucks at work "mysteriously" on one of the highest tip nights I've had in a long night. Receiving a "surprise" bill that we are expected to pay without warning. All this just adds up, as it happens literally within minutes and hours of each other at a constant pace. May not sound like much to some, but it really began to wear on us.

But even in the midst of it all, I can honestly say that inside ourselves we remained constant and at peace. Don't know that has ever happened quite like this. Usually, I think at least one of us would have some sort of meltdown (one of us being a little more extroverted in our meltdown abilities than the other, but hey, no need to incriminate anyone here :). After said meltdown, we would then, hopefully, push into some sort of peace with God, etc., haphazardly bumbling our way through it all. Maybe not as gracefully as possible, but we would always make it on the other side.

But I can honestly say this time was different. Night and Day different. Change My World different. Determine Course of Destiny different. And I cherished every minute of it because on a constant basis we found God at every turn and corner. At the end of it all we are both physically exhausted, to say the least, but soulishly refreshed all the same.

With confidence I can say that both of us have learned invaluable kingdom lessons, gained greater revelation and insight, underwent some intense internal change and growth, and most importantly have fallen deeper in love with Jesus and our heavenly Father as He proved over and over again the standard of who He is.

So what are all these lessons, revelations and insights? How are we different within ourselves, which hopefully translates to outside of ourselves? And just what is that standard of the God of the universe that we experienced moment to moment, day after day?

Well, I'll tell you. But not now. Mostly because it's almost 11 at night and I have to get up early tomorrow with a big morning ahead. But also because how can one encapsulate encountering God in just a few paragrahps? I know I can't at least. And so I will lay it out piece by piece, with each turn to be cherished, and every corner to be savored. Starting tomorrow. I promise.

Until Then...

XX

The Eight Dollar Man

Most people my age and older are well acquainted with the Six Million Dollar Man. I personally have never had the pleasure of encountering this iconic figure of my parents’ decade, but I am just old enough to recollect the murmurings and references of such a famous figure of pop culture from days bygone. Those who are younger than me may have no idea what I am talking about.

The Six Million Dollar Man was a superhero in his own right with his body being severely injured after a crash, then being given “bionic” implants in his right arm, both legs and left eye enabling him to have strength, speed and vision far above human norms. How could that not make for a great tv show, right? Uh, yeah sure. Sounds fascinating.

Well I have encountered my own Six Million Dollar Man, except I like to call him the Eight Dollar Man. An iconic figure in my own life reminding me what this life is truly about after all. And instead of a life altering crash this story begins with a normal day at work. A place I have desperately tried to get out of but God has stubbornly refused my advances, reminding me once again that He is less concerned with our “comfort” and more with our character and willingness to be used by Him in any circumstance.

About a month or so ago, I waited on an older man at our establishment on a Friday night, eating dinner by himself. I remember that he ordered the Atlantic Salmon with steamed veggies and a glass of wine. How do I remember that? Well, a great waitress never reveals her secrets. He was a well spoken, well mannered man, dressed nicely in relaxed business attire. He reminded me of the type that would sit in his library smoking a pipe while listening to opera. I don’t know if he does this or not, but in my mind this is how he spends his free time.

As is my job, if a customer initiates small talk I will interact following their lead. And as many conversations do here in Sydney, it followed the normal pattern of “Oh, are you American?” “Why, yes, I am”, with a plastered smile on my face. “What brings you here?” and then I delve into my rehearsed speech of how my husband is attending school here and on and on, to which they ask what is he studying, where does he go, etc. I answer that he is studying at Hillsong College. At that point I get many different responses depending on their belief of Hillsong, which is funny, because it is never based on their belief of God but rather Hillsong Church.

It was at this point that he responded with, “I have always wanted to go there.” Explaining that he has watched them on tv, but was never sure how one attends, to which I responded that all you have to do is show up and we would love to have him, etc. Now, I have invited many people to church and received many interesting responses (do you have to pay to get in, can anyone come, etc.). So this was still nothing too unusual. Throughout the rest of his meal we small talked here and there as I went about my duties serving him and the surrounding tables. At this point he formally introduced himself to me, shaking my hand. We talked about his job, where he was from, where he has traveled, etc. At the end of the meal, he thanked me profusely, gave me a tip, and was on his way. Nothing grand, nothing out of the ordinary.

A week or so later, I saw this man while “window shopping” with my family at the local shops. Not knowing if he remembered me but feeling the need, I walked up to him saying hi, reminding him who I was and how I knew him. He said, “oh yes, I tipped you five dollars.” I remembered what he ate, he remembers what he tipped. An interesting relationship servers have with their customers. I asked how he was doing, introduced him to my family, etc. He inquired if I was working that night, to which I answered yes, that I was going to go in a few hours. He commented that he wouldn’t be going that night, but spoke of why he enjoys our particular restaurant, etc.

He asked again about Hillsong Church to which I invited him again, telling him the times of services, etc. He reiterated his question of what does one do to get in. I reminded him that all he needs to do is just come, that we are more than happy to have him, and there is a whole host of people waiting to help him with whatever he needs. We finished up the conversation and my family and I went on our way, thinking how interesting that our paths would cross again like that, and is God up to something.

I went on to work that night with not much more thought to the situation when lo and behold, I spied this Eight Dollar Man across the restaurant once again eating dinner by himself. I then spent a good 10 minutes trying to decide whether to go over and say hi or not. I mean, I don’t want to seem like a stalker or anything and creep the guy out, but I did want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Was this a case of a lonely man searching for God and responding to a caring individual? Or did the earlier conversation only wet his appetite for Salmon again? I truly didn’t know.

He was not on my side of the restaurant so I really had no reason to “happen by” his table. Not to mention Friday nights at our restaurant are too busy to just be moseying around without accomplishing something purposeful. I had pretty much decided against it but then I just stopped and prayed in the kitchen. God, if this is You, then enable my path to cross his and I will step out and say hi to him again. I proceeded to busy myself with the demands of my job when on my way back to the kitchen, guess who stopped me? That’s right, Eight Dollar Man. On his way to the restrooms, which did happen to be right by my side of the restaurant. God works in mysterious ways, eh?

We interacted in a small amount of small talk and that was it. He was on his way and I felt a huge amount of relief. Relief for not missing out on an opportunity from God. Relief that I would not be mistaken for a creeper. And relief that I fully believed at this point that yes, God was indeed “in this”.

Fast forward a couple of weeks. It is a Friday morning not unlike many others. I had a College Wives Girl’s Night planned for that evening. I had specifically taken off work for this, picked up an extra shift that week to cover missing that night and I was really looking forward to hanging with some of my girls. I had big plans for this day. Little did I know, God had even bigger plans, all starting with eight dollars.

After paying rent that day we found we had only eight dollars left in our bank account. Not an unusual event here during this season of our life in Sydney, Australia. But this time we still had needs left that required money. At the thought of another year in this state of circumstances just seemed a bit too much for us that day and so after a time in prayer with each other and God, crying out for breakthrough and provision for what was still needed, we continued on with our day.

Brandon and I found ourselves “window shopping” in the same shop that my family had met Eight Dollar Man in. For the first time in a while I thought of him (the Eight Dollar Man), wondering if he did indeed make it to any services at Hillsong Church, how he was doing, would I ever know if inviting him ever made a difference.

A few hours before I was due to party it up with my girls I received a phone call from work that they needed someone to come in and cover for another server. Now, like I said, I had my plans for this evening and normally there is no way I would let work interfere with something like this, but as soon as they asked I knew I had to say yes. My bank account gave me no other choice, not to mention something in me rose up that God was ordaining this. I assumed maybe I was going to get a huge tip or something grand of that nature. But once again, God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

I went in to work praising God for His provision and giving me opportunities to access that provision in our lives, ready for anything that He might do. Now, I want to pause right here and say that we have seen God do outright miracles in our life, especially since we have been in Sydney. I mean outright miracles. Things that are unmistakable, have carved an utter confidence in us that God is indeed on the throne and is our Provider in every sense of the word. I have no doubt in His provision for us, but sometimes I do have to adjust my mentality of what that means and looks like. Provision covers so much more than getting what we want. It covers what we need, and very rarely do we as His children ever know what we need.

So there I am at work, serving my tables, offering smiles, dealing with disgruntled customers, and whatever other task lay before me, all with an unshakeable confidence that I would see God move. When out of nowhere, there is Eight Dollar Man eating dinner! He stops me with a huge smile, I sit down and say hi, shake his hand, and ask how he is doing. He asks about my kids and husband, if everyone is doing well, then he tells me that he did indeed attend a Hillsong Service! I couldn’t believe my ears… he actually went. And not once, but twice!

This lonely, older gentleman, who eats dinner all by himself, wanting to go to church but just not sure how, actually went. All because a young woman, all the way from the other side of the world, who has grumbled most of her way through this job, with nothing to offer in and of herself, invited him. God is truly wondrous! I told him that I hope he would comes back to church again and that if he lets me know ahead of time then Brandon and I would be more than happy to meet up with him so he doesn’t have to sit alone. His face lit up at this and he said that he would truly like that.

I walked away from our conversation in awe of God. I felt a complete sense in my spirit of God saying, “Provision? I’ve got your provision. To provide for you is nothing for me. This is so much bigger than your provision. Lives are at stake. I knew then that He used the eight dollars in our account to cause me to go to work that night. To deter me from the plans that I had made for my night. And I was grateful for the eight dollars. I was grateful that He had allowed us to be in a position that would propel us into what He is doing. And I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing, with exactly what He wants in our bank account because it is nothing to Him to turn those numbers around over night.

So will we ever see him again? Will we ever sit with him in Hillsong Church? Will I ever have the privilege of seeing him come to know Christ? I don’t know. But I do know this. If all we have is eight dollars to our name for the rest of our life, but He is using those eight dollars to position us for His kingdom then so be it. I would rather have eight dollars and reach people for Him then have eight thousand and be utterly useless to the kingdom of God.

And that is why he is our Eight Dollar Man, a superhero to our personal faith. Inspiring us to live above the norms of life, to do away with apathetic attitudes, reminding us again of why we are here and what we are to be about even in the most unsuspecting of circumstances. Nothing puts it better than the words of God himself in Matthew 6:30-33, “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.” (The Message)

Just a Thought...

Sometimes I get the feeling that God is speaking and I am just not hearing. Or maybe I am hearing but not understanding. His word says, " Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me." (Ps. 42:7) I don't fully know what that means except that I always took it to mean that the depths of who we are, the person that we really are, the soul of who we are is what hears and responds to the depths of God speaking to us. That He speaks to the parts of us that we didn't even know existed or were even possible to exist. And that if we really want to hear the heart of God, really, really hear, we have to quiet ourselves so that our depth can hear His depth. And that is why so many times we can feel or sense God at work but not quite grasp what is going on. Our depths are sensing it, but can't seem to make it's way to our shallow, easily heard sphere.
There is a level of God known easily by man, revealed to us in a plain way. But there is so much more to Him than just what is seen at a glance or felt in a moment. There are depths and mysteries, and secrets that we can't even fathom to be real. And sometimes I can feel Him speaking and stirring in me. And I get so frustrated b/c I can't seem to tap into it fully. Can't seem to get that clarity on it that I so desperately want and need. I feel my "depths" churning within me. And when I feel that churning,that movement from deep within, it would be in my best interest to quiet all aound me so that I can hear what this voice of the Deep is saying to me. Because I believe that He is speaking, always speaking. It is just a matter of whether we are listening or not. And He has this way of pulling things from our depths that we didn't even know were there. Feelings, thoughts, longings. And He draws those out of us because, left on our own, we would bury them deep within never to see the light the day again.

I know there is more to this verse. I can sense it, feel it.

May I quiet myself, my chaos to hear what You are saying. And may I learn to not stop until You are done.

A Flesh and Blood Christmas

In a time when I have been feeling God the least, this Christmas I have been reminded that He is indeed Emmanuel, God WITH us... God with me... when I stopped and just opened my eyes, and my heart, I realized He was all around me. He was constantly showing Himself to me and trying to extend His LOVE to me through ways that overwhelmed me, took my breath away, and left me in tears. Ways that have humbled me, pained me, and healed me.

In a time and season where our activities center on merriment, celebration, family and friends, I found myself feeling so far removed from everything and anything. I found it hard to even feel. When people would talk to me it took all I had just to muster up the grit in me to even converse back. I just felt empty. And when I would try to find God to come fill me up it seemed He was no where to be found. I didn't understand why when I seemed to reach the end of myself and there is supposed to be God He wasn't there.

But then as the message of Christmas HOPE was spoken, Emmanuel, God With Us, coming and taking the form of marred flesh and blood to be WITH us, to live among us, celebrate with us, suffer with us, laugh with us, cry with us, becoming like us to become our Emmanuel, I realized just as He took flesh and blood form then, He continues to do the same today.

He took flesh and blood form in the anonymous giver that put Christmas money in our mailbox so we could buy presents, in the generous families that gave of their possessions so we could have good gifts for our children that put joy in their hearts, in the strangers that opened their wallets when we were in public crisis, in the stranger that came and filled up our gas tank when we didn't have enough money to put gas in our car. He became our Emmanuel in beautiful friends who opened their lives and homes to us, in the LOVE they have extended towards me and my family, bringing us into their families on Christmas day, and in those giving so much when we could do nothing but come empty handed.

So indeed God is still here with us, just as He was long ago walking the earth among us... but this time His flesh and blood is me and it's you. And when we can get past our pride and allow Him to love us through others we encounter so much. God was with me all the time. I just wasn't seeing it and wasn't allowing my heart to be opened to it. But when I did, I felt a flood of the precious presence and love of God that I haven't felt in a long time and it heals me.

My prayer for you as this season ends is that you will indeed feel the nearness of our Emmanuel and that it overflows into the new year. That when you feel the most alone and distant from LOVE, He would send His flesh and blood into your life and the LOVE of others would find you where you are, bind you in their prayers, and heal you in their touch.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Matthew 1:21-23

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from The Griffins

God in the Caves Pt. 2

This week has been an absolutley overwhelming week for me. There is no denying the goodness and grace of our God. But let me back up a bit...
I wrote a blog on Friday, Oct 1st, but never got around to posting it because, as I had told Brandon, I just really felt like there was more. That God wasn't done speaking to me about the situation... I went ahead and posted it (called God in the Caves pt. 1) so you can see the progression of it all. So take a minute and read that before going on...

Sunday Morning. So while I was doing much better and had come to a place of greater peace, I was still struggling with the "why" of everything. Okay, so I wouldn't want anyone else's life cause that would forfeit all that is mine with God, but did it always mean life had to be difficult? Was there that many issues in my heart that I constantly had to be going through hard times to work it out. Because for the most part, that is what we are taught. When God takes us into difficult times, it is because your attitude, character, heart, etc. needs to be worked on, you're being tested, etc. Was I that messed up?
During worship on the following Sunday morning (not yesterday, but last week), I was sort of just talking to God about it all and then I saw a picture of some caves. And I felt God say to me that David (in the Bible) was who David was because he lived in caves. That he was able to write the Psalms that have spoken so greatly and ministered to millions for centuries because he lived in caves. That there are things that we can't know of God without spending time in caves. And David knew those things because of the time he spent in those caves. And I saw the entrance to the caves again and felt God say to me, " Would you live in caves to know me like David did?"
Wow. Just to know Him. Not cause I had all these horrible issues that needed to be unkinked (which I am sure there are), or I was constantly being disciplined by God, but just to know Him. He just wanted to be known by me.
And so I stood there for a minute thinking that over because I did not want to give an emotional "yes" with no stamina behind it. I settled in my heart at that moment that yes, God, you are absolutely worth spending time in caves for. That I will do whatever it takes to know You, and if that is the only way to know certain aspects about You, then in caves I will dwell (figuratively speaking, of course :).
I just stood there crying during worship because I was so overwhelmed with peace at whatever hardships we must endure (i.e. no car, restricted money and all that entails, etc., etc.) because I knew that I would know God in ways I couldn't otherwise. And for the first time I was actually wanting to be in the circumstances we were in cause I was so excited to know God in this way! I felt like the weight of a thousand bricks were lifted off my back. It was no longer about enduring but an absolute embracing the life God has given me. God amazes me so much how He can change a person with just a few moments in His presence.
So fast forward to later that day. We were at a person's house for a "superbowl" party for one of Australia's rugby leaugues Grand Finals. And long story short, we left that evening with a car!
I remember when Brandon came and told me they were giving us a car my first thought was no! I'm supposed to live in caves!! And then I thought it must be to help us get to and from work that night, cause their house was too far me to walk. And Brandon was like no, we get to use the car for good. And I told him no, they have other college students who live with them that use it. I was convinced he was horribly mistaken, that there was no way we were getting a car!
Well, yes, we got a car. This amazing, beautiful, and generous family gave us their extra car at no cost to us, with all registatration and insurance paid until June of 2011!! To say it is a "blessing" is an understatement and almost cheapens the whole affair. I am overwhelmed by God in this situation. I know that he was working in me over the weekend to prepare me for what He knew was already taking place.
And my whole week has been just one thing after another of being completely and undeservedly blessed by my Father through the body of Christ. From my tips at work to someone buying tickets for our family to go to the Jenolan Caves. I just am so overwhelmed. I know I keep using that word, but I don't know what else to say. There have been many times where I asked God, but what about living in the caves? This week has felt like anything but caves.
But maybe that is exactly it. Maybe the caves are never what we think they will be. We assume they are horrible and hard and dark. And without God they are. But when we experience God in those places we become overwhelmed with the goodness and beauty the caves provide. And we can be like David who was literally living in caves with absolutley nothing and still overflow with praise of the goodness of our God!
I pray you will be encouraged in whatever circumstance you find yourself in, that God's thoughts and plans for you are always good! Let us not hold back or shy away from where He is leading us, even if it seems scary or too difficult. We need to learn to trust Him that even in difficulty He will always lead us to His goodness. Let us press into Him and the things of Him, whatever that it requires of us, because God desires to be known by us in those places. The more we can lean into Him and less on ourselves, the more we can know Him. The more we know Him, the more we will experience and know His goodness. And the more we know of His goodness the more we can begin to see the beauty of the caves.
I pray immense blessings on you today and revelation of God's heart for you. You are more special than you know and we so appreciate and love each of you.
Love from the Griffin Clan

God in the Caves Pt. 1

So today has been a pretty bad day. Just one of those frustrating, annoying kind of days that just needs to hurry up and get over with so you can start again tomorrow. I hate those days. They really, really stink. It starts out with just small things, and then those small things attract more small things till you have this giant snowball of stress that is just following you everywhere you go. Which just makes you more annoyed with everything and everyone around you. And so your snowball gets even bigger.

For me, it usually will turn into the comparing game. Well, my day wouldn't be so bad if... my life was like so-and-so's, or I had such-and-such, or whatever I am attributing my bad day to. And I get all irritated with life and God, because somehow I attribute it to being God's fault and doing.

I mean, aren't I supposed to be blessed when I serve Him, and if I'm not as "blessed" as "others" around me, then God, what in the world are You doing? Why do you like them better? Why do you not see fit to let me have some ease and "blessing" in my life? That's just not fair, right? Wrong. Oh so very, very wrong. And I know it in my head, but it's that danged traveling to my heart that always gets derailed and lands in poor-pitiful-me-land. Yes, it's true. Just having a transparent moment here.

It is in these moments that I really allow my focus to get totally off track. I began placing value on the external instead of the eternal. I focus on what I don't have instead of what I do have. And I don't mean "I have my health, a wonderful family, roof over my head, etc." because, bah humbug! Sometimes that just doesn't help. Someone else's roof is always better and someone else's family has it better than ours because they get to do more/have more stuff, and I could go on and on because I am really good at this game.

But what I am talking about is something that became very real to me today. The realization that I have something that no one else has. And it is something I wouldn't trade for the world. My relationship with God. And before you think, but there are millions who have a relationship with God, even me! I do not mean a relationship with God, I mean my relationship with God. My very real and very personal relationship with God. There is no one who knows Him like I do. Wow, what a thought!

No one has been through what I have been through with Him, no one has heard the things He has whispered to me, no one has felt Him like I have, no one has known me inside and out like He does, and because of those things no one can give Him what I can give Him, my heart and my worship. No one has what I have with him, because it's mine. No one else can have what I have with Him because no one else is me. Pretty cool, huh?

How amazing is our God that He can take one thing, like how much He loves us, and spend lifetimes telling humanity over and over again, over thousands of years, multiple times a day, and not once would it ever be the exact same. Because we are not the exact same. Where we were in our life circumstance when He spoke it, what our background is, things we have experienced, or not experienced, what our personalities are like, what did it heal or free in us, our hopes and dreams. All that plays a part. And since we are each our own unique and separate person, our response, our worship, will never be like someone else's. And I absolutely love that! I love that no one can give God what I can give God!

Just like no two snowflakes are the same, not a single fingerprint is the same, and each and every day the sunsets all over the world are unique and never before made. I don't believe for a moment that God has 565 sunsets He just does over and over like a playlist on an ipod. What a creative, amazing, personal God that we have! It is hard for me to fathom.

So yes, there are so many things that I don't have and don't get to do that millions of people around me have and get to do. And while not a single circumstance of my life may ever change, none of that really matters, because I am indeed blessed. Not because I have much in the way of external "blessing" compared to most, but because I have an eternal, prized possession more valuable than any external blessing this life, or even God, could give me. My own, irreplaceable moments with Him. Moments that brought knowledge and revelation of who He is to me personally, the experience of His healing love and power, and moments that have given way to my unique, personal expression of freedom to worship Him. Those things are eternal, lasting forever and ever, they can never be taken away, and they belong to Him and me alone. They are worth anything I must endure while on this earth, however large or small it seems.

Psalm 73:25-26

"Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You.

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever."

"I am Beautiful" part 1

Hello Lovelies Wherever You Are! I hope you are doing amazing today. I just wanted to share with you what I thought was an absolutely breathataking scripture that I found! Psalm 33:1 reads, "Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful."
Praise from the upright is beautiful. Selah (pause and think on that).
Who doesn't want to be attractive in life? Whether physical, personality, etc. We want others to want to be around us. And sometimes we will do the most ridicuous things to try and make it happen!
Who doesn't like to be around beautiful people? Beauty attracts. Physical beauty attracts. Emotional beauty attracts. Beautiful places, beauty in nature, beauty in art. We as humans are attracted to beauty and have an innate desire to be beautiful ourselves. Why? Because we are made in the image of God and God is beautiful and is attracted to beauty.
About a week ago, in my quiet time, I was in a moment where I was just blown away with the thought and realization that God not only loves me, He likes me. He likes being with me. He is drawn and attracted to me. What a concept.
It is not based on doing things for Him or only when I am feeling, or being, "superspiritual". It is not a robotic, I-am-God-therefore-I-must-love-you-with-my-generic-God-like-Love. NO! It is based on the specific uniqueness of who I am that grabs the heart and attention of God towards me. And you. Whether it is because He thinks you are funny or loves to hear your deep, contemplative thoughts, or loves the way you are good with people, or you truly enjoy fixing things with your hands. Whatever! He thoroughly enjoys YOU! And one of the most beautiful and breathtaking things about you to God is when you praise Him.
I know, I know, but praise is one of those super spritual things right? Wrong. We make it super spritual. If we look at the first part of that verse, " Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise..." The psalmist is equating praise with rejoicing in the Lord. The dictionary defines rejoice as "taking delight in, to be glad". That's it! Take delight in the Lord for He takes delight in YOU. It's as simple as that.
First things first, be glad at what God has made you. Take delight in the simplicity of a Father that thinks you are something pretty special. Whatever you are doing right now, stop and take a moment to pick one thing about yourself that is an innate trait of yours, put there by God Himself and thank Him for it.
Don't just love yourself for the sake of loving yourself. That is futile and fruitless. Understand that the One who painted the sunsets, colored the depths of the ocean, and crafted the canyons and mountains, painted and colored You. He crafted You. Thank Him for your hair color, for your height, your body shape and size, for your mental abilities, artistic abilities, your ability to trouble shoot complex things, to make people laugh, etc.
Pick something that you may think is totally useless and thank Him and give HIM praise for it. Psalm 139:14, " I will praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." And then let Him talk to you about it. You will be shocked at what He has to say. He thinks it is beautiful, and when we praise Him for it we become even more beautiful to Him. He can't help but be attracted to us. For praise (however small we think it may be) from the upright is beautiful!
I truly pray that you would know the height, depth, and width of the love of our God for you today. Because when you do, it will revolutionize your life and rock your world forever.

Elephant Wisdom

So. I know it has been a bit since the last one and I said I would begin to keep up better, but we all know the story... too busy, too tired, etc., and for me the real big thing is I try to make things too perfect (shock and awe, I know ;). Seriously though, I could blog every day. My problem is, I don't always have a computer... and then, even if I did, we would fall back into previously said dilemmas (busy, tired, etc.). So, I have decided I will try, key word-TRY, to do smaller, shorter blogs more often. Just quick updates, thoughts, things God is doing, saying, etc.
Truly this will be so much better because, as some friends and I were talking the other day, when we talk to family and friends back home SO MUCH is going on, internally and externally, on so many levels, that you really don't even know where to start when trying to relay things. So, how do you eat an elephant? That's right, say it with me... "one bite at a time"! (which, in my personal opinion, is really quite a gross analogy).
So on to our first analogical bite (what???). Last I wrote, I was busy being squeezed through a metal door getting my flesh ripped off ;). Don't worry, it was just a flesh wound! What a time of inner testing and struggle we endured at first, but we feel that now we have truly entered into a time of breakthrough in circumstances, as well as just a shattering of mindsets and attitudes that, in all truth, were downright ugly and a hindrance to moving forward in our lives with God.
Next bite. Jobs. I am very, very happy to report that both B and I have jobs as of yesterday!! I will work as a waitress at Outback Steakhouse, which is more than ironic to me, and B got hired on at a production company. Right now, he works in the warehouse loading and unloading sound equipment and such from trucks. It pays to be big in this case, literally :). The guy that is his boss used to be on staff at Hillsong under Darlene Zscech (in production) and they do alot of the big Hillsong events, etc. It is just another great opportunity to learn and be a part of such amazing people's lives.
School. Brandon is still loving his classes. He will blog at some point more on that cuz I really don't know anything :) . He is currently being trained as the Technical Director of Sisterhood, which honestly, I am not sure all that it entails, but basically he will be in charge of making sure all things technical (i.e. sound, sound checks, lighting, tv crew, the live links between campuses, etc., etc., etc.) are all running smoothly, on time, trouble shooting as problems arise, etc.! And then after every Sisterhood he will be debriefing the entire team on what things went well and not so well, etc. It is such a great opportunity and I am SO proud of him. I know he will do an awesome job at it once his training is done.
Life is settling down and we are starting to feel like normal people again. And it officially took me 8 weeks to get behind on life. That has to be a record of some sort! Maybe that's why I feel normal now... b/c my days are spent trying to catch up!! We have met some truly amazing people here and really enjoying our new friendships.
So far, all I can tell you about Hillsong Church is that it is not what you, as outsiders looking in, think it is (and what we thought). Now that we have been here for 2 1/2 months (which is not long at all), we are just beginning to experience the heartbeat of this church and all I can say is, I'm in love.
Just one quick, and rather important, amazing testimony of our God that we wanted to share, and this will take some vulnerability on our part to share this, but think it is important and worth doing so. Shortly after we moved here we shared with a lot of you the state of our finances. Without going into a lot of the detail again, after getting here we realized our finances were scheduled to run out 4-6 weeks after we arrived. Well they lasted 4 weeks and then were totally, completely gone. We are now on week 11 and have never missed a rent payment (which is weekly) or gone without food or any necessity! Through the generosity of family and friends back in the States, and even through our new friends and family here, for 7 weeks God has Faithfully and Miraculously showed up, meeting our every need and completely blowing our minds along the way. We, as people, do not even comprehend the word Father and Love the way He so desires us to.
I cannot tell you how difficult this process was for us to be that reliant on God, DAILY, in a way we have never experienced in our lives. At first it drained us on a consistent basis, but then as God proved Himself over and over again, and really dealt with our hearts and attitudes, I can honestly say that it really became such a minor thing in our lives to deal with. There were days I didn't even think about it b/c of the reality that it became for me that my God, my Father, was completely aware of our needs and was absolutely going to look out for me and my family. So THANK YOU to those who have given, and still are, and have been praying for us. You just do not know what it means to us. Truly.
Well, I am feeling pretty full on this elephant for now, how about you? We will have to save the rest for another day. I know this one is a little long, and they won't be from here on out, but before I go, we do want to always let you know what areas you can be praying about for us and with us.
1) We really need a car. It takes me about 45 min or so to walk to work and it takes Brandon an hour to walk to his work, which he did yesterday in the rain.
2) Just continued prayer for finances. Though we have jobs, our paychecks have not kicked in yet and will not be at their best for a couple weeks.
3) Favor, open doors and opportunities, etc. as we seek to live out all that God has for us in this life so that we can truly be a blessing to others, making an impact on this earth for the kingdom of God.
Love to all who read this. And know that God's plans for you and your family are above all that you could ever think, ask, or hope.
xoxo
Jz, B, Sas, and our Chinese son, Asher