one nation, under God.

via Pinterest.

If I could shout this out on my little tin rooftop, I would: WATCH. THIS. VIDEO. This is a message from Church of the Highlands from two weeks ago by a guest pastor, David Barton. It is one of the most interesting services I've ever seen. The service talks about how our country was actually founded on Christian principles and how our forefathers actually spent large chunks of time before every meeting to pray. That's right. The word that in our government has become the nastiest of four letter words. Pray. They understood the importance of a Christ-centered life and decision making. If you're a facts nerd like I am, you will love learning about how the Bible has influenced more works, including our country's founding documents, than any other work in history. Brush up on your biblical literacy – my head was spinning. Seriously, watch. now. I can't think of a better prelude to the 4th of July next month.

grow.

They just get me..   | via Pinterest

I may or may not have lost it in church today. Like started out by choking back tears and then the floodworks came. I'm not one to cry very often. When I do, it is usually the result of extreme anger or frustration. This time I couldn't help it. It was a twofold breakdown.

The sermon talked about eternal life and how short our time here is. Stop sweating the things that you think matter that really don't in the grand scheme of life. Stop holding on to things that you will regret on your deathbed. Create a legacy that you would be proud of. This last part is what started the waterworks.

Lately I've been thinking about the legacy of those I've lost. The people I probably was too young and immature to appreciate while they were in my life. The people whose legacy is so grand that almost everyone you meet knows them and has a high respect for them. I worry so much if my life is a life that they would be proud of. I worry that I won't live up to those high standards. This part of the message really set in stone that time is fleeting, so make the most of it.

Dovetailing with that thought of how short our time on earth is is how short my time here with my friends has been. It cannot have been 4 years. Not possible. They've been the most wonderful of my life. I prayed so hard before I got here that God would put amazing people in my life, and he succeeded in doing that in my first week on this sprawling campus. I could have never imagined for myself a group of friends this close and this wonderful. It is so unbelievably hard to see that it is all coming to and end.

I'm starting to see that maybe some people are only in your life for a season to help you grow, some for a lifetime. Some of these people teach you hard lessons, born out of mistakes. Others were put in your life to point you in the right direction and to motivate you. Others are there to hold you hand through the hard times.

I know things will change in the next few months, but I'm so thankful for the people God has placed in my life. I feel like God uses everyone for a purpose to help grow others, and I'm so blessed by those he has placed in my life. Iron sharpens iron. It made this city great, and it is working on me, too.

signed, sealed, delivered, I'm Yours.

This started with the series from North Point Community Church that at least three of my friends mentioned/blogged/tweeted about.  Then it went to my addiction with The Civil Wars song, “To Whom it May Concern.” It was all wrapped up into a neat little package by a church that has blessed me so much in the almost two years I’ve gone to it.  The series that started it all was Andy Stanley’s The New Rules for Love, Sex & Dating.  Rocked my world.  Then The Civil Wars started linking all of these thoughts together in my head with their song that reads more like a love letter to that person you’re always waiting for—sometimes impatiently and sometimes in the designed patience that God wants us to live in.   And then, in one of those you just have to laugh about how funny God can be type things, all of the past series from Highlands have linked all of these thoughts together into one.  Patience, not settling for what we want, but what God wants, worrying, resting in God’s grace-- all of these things that are such a burden on our hearts.  

Andy Stanley’s series was one of the most riveting I’ve heard. The main point? Are you who the person you’re looking for is looking for? Wow. Wow. Wow. That was so convicting, inspiring, and true all at once.  He spent the next few weeks diving into how to be that person.  Watch it.

Then there’s this love-letter-song by the Civil Wars.  Some of the lyrics?

Why are you so far from me?

In my arms is where you ought to be.

How long will you make me wait?

I don't know how much more I can take.

I missed you

But I haven't met you

Oh but I want to

How I do

Slowly counting down the days

'til I finally know your name

and then at then end, my favorite part/story of my life/ part that tugged at my heart:

Dear, whoever you might be

I'm still waiting patiently

Waiting patiently –for someone who is not in my life or not revealed to be that person yet?  That’s the hard part about anything in life.  We rush into things, like marriage, because we're impatient and don't get the timing right-- we (I) don't always listen to God's timing. Sometimes I joke and say, “patience is the virtue I definitely don’t possess.”  When I think about it though, that impatience is like saying that what I want is better/more important/not worth waiting for.  Clearly that is NOT God’s plan, that’s Satan’s handiwork—a truth that was pounded into my stubborn skull in the two series at Highlands, From the Grave and Life Story. 

We’ve been having a series of visiting pastors while ours, Chris Hodges, is on a sabbatical.  They’ve been rocking my world just like he does.  Rest, worrying, displaying who WE are meant to be, not who we’re trying to be? Yep, those are all hitting straight into the heart of yours truly.  The topic of rest was particularly convicting.  If we want true rest, we have to surrender our lives fully to the will of God.  Ambition, pride, impatience —they’re all barriers from seeing what God truly wants for our lives.  The unforced rhythms of grace happen when we stop trying to be something we’re not and relax in God's grace.  Yup, I needed to hear that.  So many times I limit myself to the paths of others because it’s safe, and I’m not patient enough or dependent enough on God’s plan for my life.  … Not gonna lie, that’s a hard thing to realize.

Rick Bezet’s sermon on worrying was by far the part that hit home the most.  Every one of my friends knows my perfectionist, anxiety-driven personality.  What if things don’t happen in my time frame?  What if this awful thing happens?  What if I don’t get what I’ve been praying for for so long?  What if there isn’t the person I’ve been waiting for for my whole life?  What if I don’t get the career I’ve always dreamed about?  Worrying is the paralyzing fear that God tries to save us from.  It’s a tool of Satan to drag us away.  We can’t reach God’s full potential for our lives if we live in fear.

So, once I opened that package, I found rest, relief from anxiety, a stronger trust in God, and an even stronger thirst for God and His plan for my life, not my own.

Whew. Now that sounds like a love letter in itself, huh?

Photos via Pinterest. 

quench your thirst.

‎

 "When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to a rock that is higher than I." -Psalm 61:2

This was one of the most incredible services I’ve ever seen at Highlands. It started with one of those videos I pretend don't kindasorta make me tear up. Then our pastor let us know that he would be spending the rest of his career/life journey as a pastor at Highlands. Such a blessing to have him.  And holla, he's just gettin' started, y'all.

This sermon is for anyone who has been knocked down until they think they can never get up again.

For anyone who has been beaten up mercilessly by the people in their lives, by their circumstances, by their guilt or shame. 

For anyone who has been thirsting so deeply, but not understanding why there was nowhere to drink.

This is about spiritual death.

“The enemy pursues me, he crushes me to the ground; he makes me dwell in darkness like those long dead.  So my spirit grows faint within me; my heart within me is dismayed.” –Psalm 143:3-6

But God says that in Him we find life.

“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.  Amen.  And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” –Revelation 1:18

We get so knocked down sometimes.  We go through the motions of life/church/worship.  We aren’t there though. We aren’t alive.  We’re dead. 

But God is there.  He is there with the Oasis to quench our thirst that we didn’t even realize was there because we’re dead.  We’re struggling, but not letting God be a part of anything.  He’s there to quench our thirst, if we just wake up and drink. 

“The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”

*You can watch "Drink Again," part 4 of the series, "From the Grave" here. 

Watch it. Podcast it. Listen to it. Whatever. You won't be sorry.