Waiting.

Fall is quickly approaching. With it comes boots, football games, hot apple cider, hay rides, new school supplies, and cozy clothes. But along with that comes change, and an overwhelming sense to be busy. As I look towards fall, I get caught up in day dreaming of changes to come. What could happen in the next few years? Maybe moving for a job, or for missions work to a new city, new state, new country, or even a new continent. Maybe meeting that incredible man God has for me and settling down and having babies. Maybe everything changes.  Maybe nothing changes. But within all of those maybes, the only constant is that my God knows it all. He has it so intricately and beautifully worked together, there is no need for me to worry.

I do worry sometimes because I'm me. I worry because a big-ish birthday is coming up, and I am still single. I worry because if I move, then when would I see my family. I worry about the next steps from getting here into full time ministry. I worry about wasting time. I worry when I try to control everything.

But then I remember a couple things. Jesus tells me over and over to trust Him, to wait on Him, and to rest in Him. When I do, everything is different. I have overwhelming peace. I remember He is in control. He has me in the palm of His hand. I have His favor. He loves me, and wants the best for me. He is with me, even in the waiting.

So, I challenge you, believe Him. He is everything He claimed to be. He alone can renew, revive, restore, and refresh. He sees the big picture. He is preparing the now for the later. Moments of waiting do not have to be wasted. He can use them. He wants to use them.


While I'm waiting, there is still life to be lived and people to be loved.

I will choose to be more like Jesus every day. I will choose to praise His name. I will choose to prepare myself for the later, with what I have been given in the now. I will choose to trust my God who already has it figured out, instead of attempting control. I will choose to keep going and pressing on even when I fail and lose sight of it all. I will choose to be kind,  patient, and loving even when it is hard, and doesn't make sense. I will choose to believe that I have a purpose, wherever I am, and that I can be useful with whatever I have. I will choose selflessness over selfishness. I will choose not to waste time, and to make every moment count. I will choose to rest in Jesus instead of wrestle with anxiety.

Waiting is a natural part of life. What will you do with it? What will you choose to do while you wait?

Happy weekend! Enjoy it! Love M.

Kindness Challenge

Yesterday I posed the challenge to be kind this week.

Everyday, do something to show kindness deliberately and unexpectedly.

It's day two. How is everyone doing? Is anyone joining me?

We are such blessed people, why not use that to motivate us be a blessing to someone else.

I challenge us all to be intentional with our kindness, go out of our ways to make someone's day.

Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

I want to be called compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. But if I never use and grow these characteristics, they will never be apart of who I am.

So be kind. Show love. Stop your selfishness. Go out of your way. Make someone smile. Share Jesus.

Get out of your comfort zone. Have an incredible week.

Love, M

A challenge.

When was the last time you made someone smile? When was the last time you told someone how much you love them? When was the last time you laughed with someone, like really laughed? When was the last time you made someone's day? When was the last time you gave of yourself, your time, your money, your stuff to bless someone else?

I want to encourage you to do something every day this week to bless someone. An intentional. unexpected kindness.

Every day.

It's not that hard. I promise.

Pay for the man's coffee behind you. Send a card to a sick friend. Compliment a lady's dress at a store. Sidewalk chalk encouraging notes. Buy a meal for a homeless man. Give money to a missionary. Celebrate someone's success. Keep your word. Watch a friend's kiddos for free so she can run errands. Stop and help someone with their groceries. Be patient waiting in line. Actively listen when in a conversation. Tip your waitress a bit more. When you tell someone you will pray for them, do it right then. Pass out flowers. Remind people they are loved. Do the dishes without asking. Pick up trash at the park.

The possibilities are endless.

Easy peasy, lemon squeezey. Right?

How are we supposed to share the love and joy and peace of Jesus if we ourselves do not portray love, joy, and peace?

If we want to be Jesus to a real world, we need to be love, have joy, and share peace. Not a fake version of them, but authentic realities of them.

Pray and ask God what you can do this week to bless someone and love them. And then do it. Ask for opportunities, and for people. He will supply them.

Something big. Something small. Something without any recognition. Something easy. Something hard.

Just do it.

What picture of Jesus do we paint if we are always stressed, cranky, and without care for others?

Jesus commanded us to love, and not just the ones who are like us and who like us.

So, I challenge you all, and myself included to love this week. Love in unconventional and uncomfortable ways. Love without shame. Love regardless of how hard it is. Be a blessing to someone. Point them to Jesus by your actions.

Share ideas on how you can show kindness in the comments section.

Game on. Let's do this.

So excited for this week. Love, M.

His love is true.

Things that are truly true remain true, regardless of circumstances.

One plus one will always equal two. Even if I don't believe it.

The same is true of our Jesus.

His love is larger and more consuming than I ever thought possible. It rushes in to the deep, dark crevices to heal and restore. It never gives up. It binds up the broken hearted. It gives hope to the hopeless. It gives life and truth to the lost. It changes lives. It never runs out. It is intimate and personal. It is for every person ever born, in every place, in every time. It brings light to a darken corner. It melts stone hearts. It never fails. It calls the weary to rest. It is a father's unconditional, all consuming love. It is a free gift. We have it. It is ours.

So often, we forget it. We deny it. We ignore it. We run from it. We hide from it. We don't live it out. We act like this amazing love isn't for us. It isn't really real. It is only good in theory. We don't believe it.

But it remains true. Even when we don't believe it, His love for us is overwhelming.

So, embrace it. Jump into the ocean of love. Accept it. Run to it. Cling to it. Celebrate it. Bask in it. Run to it. Live it. It is yours, you already have it.

Focus on His love. Focus on Him. Focus on what He thinks of you.

If financial woes plague your mind, focus on the fact that He is provider.

If health worries are bothering you, remember He is healer.

If you are tired and want to give up, rest in Him, He renews and restores.

If life doesn't make sense, know that He is all knowing.

If you weep, believe that He is the Comforter.

If you just want to run away and hide, trust that He is your refuge.

If you just want to give up, let Him fight for you.

If you want to share Him, but don't know how, never forget that He will fill your mouth with His words.

Focus on Him. He is always consistent. He never changes. His love for us never wavers.

When life is so uncertain, He is our rock. Our emotions and feelings cloud our judgement of what is true, but always remember, He is always true.

Happy Friday. M.

Wherever.

If you follow my stories or know my heart, you know I long to be back in Bolivia. My heart is to be back there serving full time, and to be on huge adventure with God. Most days, I don't want to be here.

But more than anything, I want to be content with wherever He has me. Because He has me here. For a reason. For a season. On purpose.

Philippians 4:11-Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:


Hebrews 13:5-Let your conduct be without covetousness; be contentwith such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”


So, lately I have been praying, "God, wherever You have me, use me." 

 It has been interesting to see how He is using me.

The other day, I was on a website, and someone randomly messaged me, and asked if I was a Christian. I said yes, and he asked me if I could explain to him how to become one. So over the internet, I was able to share Jesus to someone I have never met. God brought to memory verses and truths from His word, and I was able to share how Jesus, and not any religion or tradition is the way to heaven and to God. The whole time, God reminded me that I prayed to be used wherever I was.

I have a good friend in Japan. He has been teaching English there for almost a year. I know he is homesick. So I used my Kitchen Aid (Remember this?) (how cool is it to bless someone with something you have just been blessed with?) and made him coconut chocolate chunk cookies. I mailed him all sorts of fun stuff. I don't know if he knows, but I pray for him daily. I just want to be a blessing to him, even on the other side of the world.

Wherever I am.

Since I have moved into my new place, I have had many opportunities to share Jesus. I have had more people over for real conversations in my two months here than I ever did in my two years in my old place. I have been able to sit on the couch with a cup of coffee, and share stories of His faithfulness. People who know Jesus, people who have never been inside a church, and all sorts in between have been over. Real conversations about a real God keep happening.

Wherever I am. 

The grocery store check out. The bank. Getting a hair cut. Dinner with an old friend. Family. To all generations. In Spanish. Picking up pizza. Walking downtown.

It doesn't make sense. The God of the universe is using me, a simple girl, with a normal life, wherever I am, to show people Jesus. It is mind boggling. But I am blessed.

I am so excited to see who is next. Who can I bless next? Who needs a cookie, a hug, a smile, a cup of coffee, a listening ear, Jesus, or a friend.

I challenge you this week.  Pray this with me. "God wherever you have me, use me." I promise, He will use you if you are willing. There are broken people everywhere. Let's be the hands and feet of Jesus, and show love, in real ways.

Love, M

A 50 pound bag.

I was just there.

I remember packing. I remember praying. I remember driving around to see people before leaving. I remember saying good byes. I remember get dropped off at the airport. I remember needing God to show up in HUGE ways, because I couldn't go to another continent without Him.

I remember because it was just a few short months ago. I left for Bolivia. All alone. Scared. Looking for adventure. Needing a real God. Ready to conquer injustice. Taking on the world. Saying goodbye to all I knew.

My friend, Lauren in this exact moment is where I just was. She is currently flying from Chicago to London, and then from London to Zambia, Africa where she will spend the next six months loving people.

She came over the other day to pray.

I was really looking forward to praying for her, with her. I was just there. All the emotions running were still fresh. I was only gone for six weeks, not six months, but I can imagine.

So she came over. We shared  our hearts for missions, and stories of a real God.

I began to pray for her. It was easy. How did I pray? I just remembered, What did I beg God for months before? What mountains did I need Him to move? What were things I was nervous about? I was just there. It was all fresh. I believe the Holy Spirit helps us pray. He brought something to memory I wasn't intending on praying about.

I began praying for her luggage to be the correct weight. Out of anything I could have prayed for, that was on my heart the most.

I reminded Lauren that our God is the same God that put planets into orbit, He split the Red Sea, He changed water into wine. He is more than capable to make bags weigh 50.0 pounds.

And its true. I remember fretting for days about my own bags being over weight. 

He is so faithful and sovereign. I put both of my bags on the scales at the Detroit airport on Valentine's Day, and they BOTH were 50.0 pounds. TO THE OUNCE. They were both pounds over when I left my house. He did that.


So, back to Lauren. She just called me a little bit ago. She  was boarding her flight to London. She told me she had to call and tell me about our real God.


She was so nervous about the weight of her bag. She was just praying and praying for it to be the proper weight. She said she put it up on the scale, and it was 50.0 pounds EXACTLY. She was then able to share about a real God and her faith to the airport workers checking her in.
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Are you kidding me?!?!


Scales don't lie. It isn't a coincidence. God is sovereign. He makes the path of the righteous smooth. He listens to the whispers of our hearts. He is faithful. He gives to us when we ask in Jesus' name. He is all powerful. He is God. He is in the business of miracles. He just wants our faith and obedience. He wants to be famous in all of the earth.


What a good God we serve.

Please be praying for Lauren as she travels to Africa, and as she settles in. She will be there for the next six months, and I know is coveting your prayers.

I look forward to watching God's favor and faithfulness our out on her in Africa.

Once she is up and blogging, I will link up with her blog, so you can follow along.

Overwhelmed once again by His goodness, M

He is faithful.

Tonight I was driving home. I was tired, frustrated, and exhausted. I was praying to a real God, who at the moment didn't feel very real. I was telling Him, "I know you are faithful. It just doesn't feel like it. I feels like You forgot about me. I know You love me, but I don't feel it."

And then, I saw it.

The prettiest rainbow in the world. It was a full, across the road, double rainbow. The clearest and largest rainbow I have ever seen. Ever.

At the exact second I needed to be reminded of His faithfulness. He showed Himself to be faithful.

The rainbow in the Bible represents God's faithfulness, His love, and His promises.

Genesis 9:8-17 (amplified version)
8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying,
9 Behold, I establish My covenant or pledge with you and with your descendants after you
10 And with every living creature that is with you —whether the birds, the livestock, or the wild beasts of the earth along with you, as many as came out of the ark—every animal of the earth.
11 I will establish My covenant or pledge with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth and make it corrupt.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant (solemn pledge) which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations:
13 I set My bow [rainbow] in the cloud, and it shall be a token or sign of a covenant or solemn pledge between Me and the earth.
14 And it shall be that when I bring clouds over the earth and the bow [rainbow] is seen in the clouds,
15 I will [earnestly] remember My covenant or solemn pledge which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters will no more become a flood to destroy and make all flesh corrupt.
16 When the bow [rainbow] is in the clouds and I look upon it, I will [earnestly] remember the everlasting covenant or pledge between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
17 And God said to Noah, This [rainbow] is the token or sign of the covenant or solemn pledge which I have established between Me and all flesh
That was my rainbow. It was for me. God reminded me right in my exact moment of need to show up.

He is faithful.

He is love.

He is truth.

He is real.

He is overwhelmingly everything I don't understand or ever could.

He cares about me.

He is faithful. So faithful.

I pulled over in a parking lot to take pictures. I stood, crying, worshiping a real God.

He is worthy.

He thinks of me dearly.

Great is thy faithfulness.

His thoughts toward me are precious and many.

Psalms 139:17-18a How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;

Blessed. Loved. Daughter of the King.

Love, M