The Flu, Kawangware Slum and Hollywood...

What a title...

About 2 weeks ago I was sick with the flu for 10 days, and literally thought I was never going to get better... I know I was a bit dramatic, but being pregnant, not being able to take any medicine but Tylenol and having your baby take every good thing inside of you leaves you totally spent... Anyways...

On day three of fighting my 101 degree temperature, I found my heart being broken in a different way for the people living in Kawangware Slum, Kenya... here I was able to take a hot bath to alleviate the chills all over my body, lay in a cozy clean bed, have anything that I needed brought to me and be able to be taken to the hospital for medical attention.  As I lay in my bed I quickly found tears running down my face as I saw visions of men, women and children fighting the same sickness or worse, some laying on a mattress made of blankets stacked on the dirt floor, some on old couches with nothing but the clothes they wear to keep them warm, and some on nothing but the dirt floor.  Needless to say God is continuing to answer my prayer in breaking my heart for the things that break His.

On day five, I found myself passed out on my bed still fighting the 101 degree temperature and in a dream that left me smiling and shaking my head at the same time as I woke up... God was sharing His heart with me for Hollywood.  It was, to be honest... really weird.  There were flashes of magazine covers, famous faces and deep sorrow.  Next I found myself praying for the Kardashian family... This was my first experience feeling any type of burden for any Hollywood celebrity. 

To sum it all up God quickly showed me His heart is the same for all people, rich or poor.  As Christians we need to have a heart and mind that places no condition above another.  He longs to bring healing, comfort, hope, peace, restoration and freedom to all, there is no social status with God... Lets continue to ask God to break our hearts for the things that His, and pray for Hollywood and the poor.

My biggest fear...

Matthew 7:21-23  ²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’  

This scripture has continually been in my heart for years, however the reality of this passage has settled into my soul since the beginning of Redeeming Africa's Hope. I am truly understanding the depth of what this scripture means. To be honest its hard to find the balance between projects, meetings, volunteers, interns, up-dating supporters, leading mission teams, all the legal paperwork, and making time to spend with the creator of it all.  This doesn't just apply to people running non-profits or other ministries, but to all of us! The stay at home mom can be just as busy!  

Matthew was showing us that out relationship with Christ is not in what we are doing, but in the intimate times we spend with Him.  Believe me I can fill my whole day up "doing things" for Christ and "furthering" His kingdom, but if I am not intimate with my savior and creator it is all in vain.  

My challenge to you and myself today is to search ourselves and be honest. Are you investing into your relationship through intimate communication or deeds?  Your Father longs to meet with you... do you long to meet with Him, or are you satisfied with what you are "doing for Him"?  

In Revelation 2:2-7 John writes to the Church in Ephesus

  ² I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³ You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.

   ⁴ Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. ⁵ Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. ⁶ But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

   ⁷ Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

It is my prayer that we hear and go back to our first love...JESUS!   Our soul longs to be fed through an intimate relationship with Him. You will never honestly be satisfied through anything else.  Don't allow the enemy to deceive you into believing that your "works" for Christ are your "relationship" with your Him.  Spend time with Him daily, if it means getting up before the sun or the kids, then do it! I believe you can, and I believe your soul needs it! 

Love you all, Laura 

Lets be Quiet...and Listen to Jesus Breath.

The more life I get to walk through, the more I understand the depth of my relationship with my Creator and Savior Jesus Christ is up to me.

For many of us we fall into the "typical" comfortable, "christian" relationship that we see all around.  Going to church every Sunday, maybe popping in on a bible study throughout the week, reading our bible for 30 minutes at least twice a week, praying for 5 minutes a day and of course being a "witness" wherever we go.  Is this all we were made for?  Really... what kind of a relationship is that?  WE WERE MADE FOR MORE...
 
I have found I have to go deeper.  I can't just pray for my alloted time, read for my alloted time or listen to a message and expect God to reveal the deep things of His heart and soul to me.  This only will come in the quiet places I make, for just the two of us.  You see when we stick to the "normal" we will only see the normal, think the normal and do the normal... But when we shift to the places where God operates(the spiritual-Romans 6:12, John 6:63, Rom. 8:26, 2 Cor. 3:3) we can see what He sees, hear what He hears, feel what He feels and speak with the same power and authority that He spoke with and still speaks with today.

Choose to make quiet places in your life.  Just be quiet and you will hear Jesus breath, be still and you will hear Him speak, sit a little longer and you will see what He sees and never be the same again.  He needs us to break the normal, so that He can do the abnormal in us and through us. My prayer for you today is that your heart and soul may be taken on an ariel view of who Jesus desires to be in your life and how He want to use you!

Who Are You Becoming in 2011?

Its the begging of a New Year and for many of us it feels like a new begging.  We can take all the good from 2010 and leave behind all the in between.  We get a clean slate.  Its time to set new goals, make positive changes in our lives and get excited about what the New Year will bring.  Its a new hope for many, and a continuation of joy for others.
Although this is good, I have been thinking allot about what all of this means or doesn't mean in the reality of what matters.  I found myself in the same routine as years past, setting my personal 2011 goals and 2011 goals for Redeeming Africa's Hope, when all of the sudden I stopped...
How many times have you actually sat down at the end of a year and asked God the goals He want's you to set for the next year?  Or even better how many times have you actually sat in silence at the begging of your day and asked God what He wants you to accomplish that day? Or lets take it even further... Is it about what we accomplish or who we are becoming?
The challenge I am giving to myself and to you is simply this... Take some time to quiet yourself and ask God where He wants to take you this year.  Don't shove aside 2010 and miss the growth you were intended to have and just leap into 2011 the same person.  I pray that you realize your mission on this earth is not necessarily what your hands are doing, but what your heart and soul are shaping into.