When God Calls You Out

Imagine yourself floating lazily down a calm and peaceful river. The summer sun is still hot. The promise of autumn is in the air. There's a little chill to the water now, perfectly complementing the hot sun. The cicadas are singing their song. The sky is perfectly blue, and just like you on the water, the fluffy white clouds are gently moving across the sky.


Then come the rapids. You have to be alert and aware. You can't just lie back and ignore them or you may end up in a dire situation.


So it is with life. We get comfortable. Life is good. As the song says, "everything's going my way." We do it in our walk with Christ. We get up and go to church. But are we serving the Lord in the way He intended? I heard a convicting quote on the radio this week. It went something like this: You have to be responsible to do the task God has given you.


So what has He given you? That's a question only you can answer after you spend some time allowing God to shine His light into (what you think are) the hidden recesses of your heart. He's been doing that for me, and daily the wattage gets brighter and brighter - blinding, in fact! I'm at the point now where I feel like I'm standing in a spotlight as God reveals His truth and shows me His way.


I still feel inadequate for some of this stuff. The truth is, there is always going to be someone better at something than I am or you are. That isn't the point. The point is, God has given me this task. So I will do it. I can procrastinate. I can use all the delay tactics I have learned throughout life. You know, like a kid at bed time - I need a glass of water...I'm hungry....I need to use the restroom....Read me a story...There's a monster under my bed...excuses. Simply and explicitly, EXCUSES!


So, friends, as I encourage you to accept the responsibility for the task God has given you, you can encourage me. Specifically, I ask you to pray. Pray for me to have the confidence which we learned earlier this week is not in myself, but in what God can do through me. I'll be praying the same for you.

What Can I Do?

I may have mentioned before the devotion book I bought for this year. I wanted something with a short, one page only, bit of encouragement and Bible verse to support the writing. So I took myself to the local Christian bookstore and started looking. There were classics and mega-popular authors to choose from. There were some that were overly simplified. Some were specifically for moms of toddlers or teens. Some were for singles. Some for widows. There were some that just didn't grab me, you know? And there was this book. I know you're not supposed to judge a book by it's cover (even though it is so pretty!), so I opened the pages. I thumbed through and read snippets here and there. This book grabbed me. It seemed perfect. Just what I was looking for. I think it is safe to say God had these women write this book just for me. Thanks, ladies!


There have been many pages that struck my heart strings this year. Many times when I felt the Holy Spirit pouring over me either comfort, conviction, or the encouragement I was looking for.  Then there was that day last week. I shared this quote as a FB post, but I want to share about it with you here.


"You don't have to have confidence in what you can do - only in what He can accomplish through you." It goes on to say, "What do you feel your purpose is? Open your heart and mind to a limitless God. Believe, deep in your heart, the fullness of His limitless capability for you. Pray on that, take steps, and watch Him fulfill your meaningful purpose." (A Little God Time for Women, published by BroadStreet Publishing)


What can I do? Not much. I can waste time like no other. I am a good cook if we ever stay home long enough to have a meal there. I can trip over air or a stone and fly through the air like Wonder Woman before I land hard and hurt myself. I can get involved in a show and watch it for too long. I can struggle making this list...even though I am pretty good at making lists.


What does God want me to do? Yeah, I know, that stings. Mostly because He calls us to do things we think are impossible. Moses couldn't speak well, and Noah needed an ark, why? David was just a kid when he faced his giant. Mary, well, she was a virgin. And then there is me. And there is you. We must seek God's face. What passion has he placed in your heart? I know mine. You're reading it now.


I long to encourage people in their walk with Christ. Satan reminds me daily of my failures and convinces me that because of them, my words are useless. WRONG! It is because I'm a failure I can encourage you. It is because I feel so useless that God can use me. It is because God has given you that passion you should step up and DO IT!


This blog is not an accident. I remember that first day so vividly. Encouraged by others, I clicked the button. Encouraged by others, I began to share my heart. Facing cancer, it became a convenient place to share my experiences. Then the whispers came - you have nothing to share, nothing to give, nothing of value that could possibly help anyone. You don't have time, you messed up again, you can't do this.


Over the past year I have faced attacks straight from the mouths of people I trusted. Things were said and done that broke my heart - and my spirit. Satan used the hateful insults to weaken me, reminding me of them again and again. I caved in to the lies whispered in the darkness, convinced I had been fooling myself, God didn't really want me, I was of no use, I couldn't do anything right.


That's right, I can't. But God can. So, since He has given me the passion to write and encourage you - even through my failures - I will. Honestly? I don't have much confidence in what I can do. But I believe God can use me if I am willing to obey.


Today, I want to encourage YOU to trust the Lord and make yourself available. This post may be a little long. You need to know that I was driven to open the page several days ago and write ---- having no idea what I would say. I put it off until today, and still had no idea what I would say. It's a turning point for me.


So, here you are, reading some raw and honest truth from my heart. Won't you take a little time today to be still, and KNOW that He is God. Listen carefully to the truths He speaks over you...and refuse to listen to the whispers of your enemy. Maybe you are like me and know your purpose but have been avoiding it. Avoid no longer, my sister! Psalm 56:9 says, "This I know, that God is for me!" Praise the Lord!

Dry and Weary

I think there is a song that goes something like this, In a dry and weary land, You are the water, You are the water...


I may have it all wrong. If I do, I'll just write the song... Because I've been in the desert for too long. You know the feeling of choking you have when you are SO thirsty - when your nose AND throat are dry and your tongue feels ten sizes bigger than normal...? That's the way my life has felt lately. In fact, to be brutally honest, just the other day I was so dry I could only sit before the Lord with my head in my hands. I couldn't pray. I couldn't cry. I couldn't sing. I could only sit.


I started out like the Psalmist in Psalm 77:4 - You hold my eyelids open: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. Truly, it was all I could do just to sit in His presence, but I knew I must. It was clear to me this was a turning point. As I sat there, His love rushed over me. It was like the dam upstream began with a series of cracks before bursting open. The healing waters of the love of God refreshed my dry soul, my cracked and hurting heart. My parched lips began to sing. My broken heart began to heal. You know that flood waters can be dangerous, right? Strangely enough, in this flood I was able to stand taller, stronger, and completely balanced. My feet weren't sinking in mud or being swept out from under me. I was on solid ground.


I picked up my Bible and began to read. Scriptures JUMPED off the page! Beautiful things like this:


Isaiah 43: 18-19 Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing and it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.


Isaiah 42: 8-9 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.


And this:


Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.


I honestly had gotten to the point of feeling I had no words, just like the scripture I quoted above. I had no words to converse. To teach. To write. To encourage. I was dried up and cracking like the ground in a long drought. Psalm 107:9 says, He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. You see,


Only Jesus can satisfy your soul!
Only He can change your heart and make you whole;
He'll give you peace you never knew,
sweet love and joy and heaven too,
for only Jesus can satisfy your soul.
(Lanny Wolfe)


As Jesus poured over me and His healing water refreshed my aching soul, He has given me direction. I am so excited about the future! He has plans for me and continues to reveal them to me daily. My desert has turned into an oasis. Psalm 107:35 - He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.


So, may I encourage you? If you are feeling alone and dried up, just sit down, put your head in your hands and let God pour over you. Let Him satisfy your soul.

Riding the Rapids

Some of you probably read that title and thought, "HA! Not Vicki." Well, you are exactly right. Not this girl! It makes me weak-kneed just to think about it. I do, however, see some parallels of the sport  to my life ... and maybe yours as well.


The adventures of my life change on a daily basis. Sometimes they are quite mundane and a little bit boring. Like a lazy day floating in a pool soaking up the sun. Sometimes they are demanding and require a lot of my time. Sometimes they are great adventures on the road escaping the day-to-day world. And sometimes I feel like I've been caught in the whirlpool in the Inga Rapids on the Congo River. (Look it up. There's a super cool photo of a guy in a green kayak caught in a whirlpool. THAT'S how I feel sometimes.)

I have learned that rapids are graded by classification from I to VI. To put it simply, they occur in the shallower flow of the river and need those big rocks to help them form. Those of us who live in east Tennessee might remember watching the Olympic course be constructed on the Ocoee River. They brought in and built huge boulders to make that section of the river just what it needed to be. Some names of rapids people actually enjoy riding are: Terminator, Godzilla, Stairway to Heaven, Gates of Inferno, and even God's House - which is where I would be if I tried it! There is a section of Class V whitewater in Chile 14 miles long that is referred to as "long, wild, and inescapable rapids." 

Does your life ever feel like that? Like you are rushing 20 mph down a roaring river with rocks and tree trunks jutting out at you as you hold on to a single paddle in an inflatable boat, trying to navigate your way around the danger? People actually call this fun!

There's a bit of an adventurer in each of us. Life is the grand adventure. It gets scary sometimes, and it may feel out of control a lot of times. Whatever life throws at us, we can be like the trained, learned, and skillfully prepared people who can and do launch a vessel into, and love the ride down, the river.

We can train and prepare ourselves for the adventures of life. First, we need proper attire. The Bible tells us to put on the WHOLE armor of God. You wouldn't get up on Monday morning and only put your shoes on before heading out the door, would you? We must dress properly. Do you realize that each piece of the armor God gives us equips us to move forward?  It's not intended for us to retreat. We are meant to face life and live it! 

Second, we must have proper knowledge. If, and that's a BIG I F, I were to lose my mind and decide to go rafting, I would certainly seek out a company and a guide who know all there is to know about the subject. I would want someone who had studied the river, who had experienced the river. I would want someone who loved what they were doing and had done it multiples of times. I promise you I would never get in a raft with a first-time tour guide! Our knowledge comes from reading God's Word and listening as he speaks to us through it. We can't let the dust settle on it. We must read it daily and learn all we can.

The third thing we must have is proper equipment. God gives us that with our armor. He gives us the sword that will split to the marrow and find the truth. He gives us a helmet to protect us from blows meant to cause us to doubt and question. He gives us a shield to protect us from the fiery darts the enemy hurls at us. Which brings us to prayer.

We stand on the banks of the rivers and cheer on the rafters. We encourage them to keep going. As we pray, we encourage each other. I have personally experienced the power of prayer. There have been times when I thought I couldn't, but because people were praying for me, I could - and did. I have seen the power of prayer so many times. From safety to provision, God has answered.

At the end of the day, when the sun is setting and the river ride is over, there is an exhilaration of accomplishment and achievement that comes to the rafter. There are also sore muscles, sunburn, scrapes, and bruises. I know because I am not totally without experience. In my younger years, when I was less afraid of the results of injury, I tubed and rafted the Hiwassee...several times even! I am very proud of a scar on my leg from one of the adventures. Yeah, it's a low-level rapid, but it was a big deal for me. And because I had those experiences I can understand the feelings of accomplishment and achievement.  I also understand the exhaustion and hunger it produces as well.

The point to all this is, life is an adventure! We never know, from day to day, what lies in store. Even our best laid plans can be changed or even canceled in the blink of an eye. As my friend says, "It's all good." It IS all good when God is in control and you are following him. No matter how turbulent the waters, He will carry you through. Lean on him. He's a great adventure guide!

A few thoughts from my journal...

Toward the end of 2017 I decided I needed a new devotion book. I wanted something that had a verse and a paragraph of encouragement to start my day. Something not too entailed because I spend a lot of time studying anyway and I simply didn't need to add to that. I did however, need something to boost my personal devotion and prayer time. So I went to the store.


I stood in front of the shelf and read over the various titles. True, you're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I did. I found a pretty little book. It had everything I was looking for (more than I imagined!) so I picked it up and headed for the checkout counter.


When January 1 rolled around, I was diligent to pick up my new little book and read the verse and thought for the day. As the days passed, I realized this was more than a casual purchase. I believe God had them make the cover pretty so I would pick it up! He had spoken through these writers and had them pen words He would use to penetrate my heart daily. I stand amazed in His presence as He uses the words these ladies wrote and applies them to my life. Sometimes the application is one of encouragement. Sometimes it is a direct piercing hit to reveal something I need to correct. Sometimes it soothes like the healing balm of Gilead.


I've been copying short portions in my journal along with the scriptures God gives me, and I am loving going back and seeing how God is working. On a particular day back in February, I wrote down several passages. Then I wrote this:


As I was praying this morning, the Lord impressed this truth upon my heart: Tend to yourself. Gently and lovingly. Like you would tend the most fragile plant in the garden. Tools must be sharp. The ground fertile and soft. Water, fresh. Continually drink up the water. You must in order to grow stronger roots. From those deep, strong roots will grow strong stems and leaves, pushing their way upward toward the sun.


You see, life gets busy. Crazy busy at this house! We have obligations and demands placed upon us from many sides. We go, go, go. We hurry to get to the next thing. We fall in bed late at night, sometimes having eaten dinner way later than anyone ever should. Then we get up early to make the appointments that must be kept. To do the chores that are required. To get to the places that need us there. And we ignore our own needs.


A couple of days later I wrote this:


I feel like the old toy train we had way back when. We would rev up the speed, and without fail it would derail. Then we had to take time to set each car upright, getting the wheels set on the track, connecting them together, before we could enjoy the fun again. Until we turned up the speed and watched it crash yet again.


I share my journal with you to encourage you. We all live crazy busy lives. Take some time to stop and let God pour over you. Soak up the living water. Listen to His truth. Allow Him to set you back upright on the path He has called you to follow.

God Cracks Me Up!

Krispy Kreme. The words alone can cause you to drool.


Hot Donuts Now! The sign alone is reason to consume a dozen .... at least.


My favorite is the chocolate-iced cream-filled. As the saying goes, how sweet it is!


For the sake of absolute honesty, I must confess here that I am a stress eater. Comfort food is called comfort food for a reason! For some, it's chips and dip. Sometimes chicken and dumplings. Sometimes French fries. Ice cream. Coke. A thick, juicy burger...what's your weakness?


Anyway, my husband and I lead a very hectic, very busy life. We have some heavy responsibilities and obligations. There are days the load gets heavy. On those days, comfort food calls my name.


Recently, after a particularly stressful day, I just wanted a donut. I was close to home and considered driving all the way back to town to get a fresh one. Instead, I decided to stop in the grocery store and get one from the display there. Since we're being honest, I got two. (I said is was a particularly stressful day.) I was tempted to eat them both on the one mile drive from the store to my house....but I restrained myself.


Coffee. These donuts and a cup of coffee were going to relieve all my stress and solve all my problems!


I got home, made the coffee, grabbed the bag of TWO donuts and headed to the couch. I pulled the first donut out and bit into it. Anticipation of the sweetness... the chocolate... the cream... was SO close to becoming my blissful reality.


Until I bit into custard filling. Custard! I didn't want custard. I don't like custard. I wanted the white, fluffy cream filling. Oh what a disappointment. Not to be outdone, I put that donut back into the bag and pulled out the second.


One more bite and my disappointment ballooned by immeasurable proportions! Ugh! Now what!?! Here I am in my pajamas now, my coffee is getting cold, and my stress is increased because I have custard filled donuts.


That's when I started giggling. I've been trying to eliminate sugar and junk from my diet. Not quite successfully, but trying. Then I started laughing. Because I realized that I had prayed and asked God to help me with this problem I have of not eating so healthy and loving the donuts.


Friend, I ended up laughing and laughing and praising and praising my God! I KNOW I got those donuts off the right tray. You see, I KNOW that because I KNOW there are two - cream and custard, and I DO NOT LIKE the custard. So I am careful to look at what I am getting.


But God. I don't think he reached down and changed the donuts in my bag. I do think he allowed someone to make a mistake and put the donuts in the wrong place, knowing I would be there later and that I really didn't want to fail at that point in what had been a successful day so far.


We serve an amazingly loving heavenly father. My God IS an awesome God. He heard my prayer. He answered my prayer. And he gave me a better way to release the stress. Laughter is the best medicine, they say. God agrees - Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is good medicine." Laughter has been proven to boost immunity, give relief from pain, and improve your mood.


Don't limit God, my friend. Watch to see how he is working in your life. Find the humor when he answers your prayers - instead of getting angry because you got the wrong donut.

Cobwebs in My Email

Oh my goodness! I have over 999+ emails to delete! Truth be told, it's about 1500+. I know most of them are sales ads, coupons I won't use, and pleas from companies to visit their websites again....so I let them pile up. When I worked as a secretary, I was emailing all day long. Receiving and sending. Replying, forwarding, and deleting. Email consumed my day. Perhaps that is why I tend to avoid it now.


I logged into my email the other day for the sole purpose of deleting unwanted garbage. I checked the boxes in bulk and hit the delete button. Over and over I repeated the process. Ten to twenty at a time. It seemed the more I deleted the more there was to delete. Junk was clogging up my inbox. It took a couple of hours...and I didn't finish.


As I sat doing this monotonous task, I began to think about how life can become like my email. Cobwebs building from inattention. Junk piling up and clogging the path, blocking the view. Friends, we must be so careful not to allow junk to pile up in our lives. Sin creeps in like that. We might ignore it. It's so easy to do. Like I ignore my inbox.


At home, I have to walk through each room with a long-handled brush to knock down the cobwebs that form in the corners. But I also have to pay attention to the blinds. Those crazy spiders like to hide behind them and build fortresses! (I saw one this morning!) Why do I do it? Well, I am not a huge fan of spiders, but mostly I don't want my guests to think I am a poor housekeeper. You see, people can see those cobwebs and the lack of attention I give to the corners of my home if I don't clean them up.


So, let me challenge you today. As I continue to build on the word I used last year to live my life - deliberate - and add more to it by being consistent this year, I am convicted of the daily need to knock down the cobwebs. If I don't log into my email daily, by the end of the week there are once again hundreds of emails I don't even care about. I must always be deliberate and consistent.


What do you care about? Are you missing treasures because of the junk piling up and blocking the view? God has so much for us! I don't know about you, but I miss a lot of it for the cobwebs.


If I am going to live deliberately consistent, I am going to have to be active daily making sure I am keeping the corners of my heart clean. I can't let any little sin hide out there. I must let God shine his light into the recesses I ignore and help me clean up. Because the real truth is, people can see when we let the cobwebs pile up in the corners of our hearts too.


It's easy to let the cobwebs pile up. I'm going to spend some time tonight cleaning up my email. More importantly, I am going to sit with the Lord and let him delete some junk I've allowed to pile up in my heart and mind. How about you?

What Will the New Year Bring?

I meant to write something days ago, but 2018 has started out with a bang. Like, the kind of bang we need one of those air-purification bomb things in our house for. We didn't have the flu at our house, but we had some sort of bug that didn't want to leave. Then other things happened and demanded time. So, on this freezing-rain, no-school, it's-best-to-stay-home morning, I am going to write! Happy New Year, everyone!


Last year I jumped onto the Word of the Year Train. My word was deliberate. I tried to be deliberate with every decision and plan I made. I didn't always succeed, but I tried. We had some major life events that took over and became so consuming that all I could do for a while was deliberately survive. Still, the idea was there, and I tried.


As 2018 began to dawn, I did what we all do - look back and evaluate. Did I deliberately plan? Did I deliberately succeed? Looking at all the things I failed at... remembering all the times I failed...because I never even tried... thinking about all the days that swept past as I could only tread water and try to stay afloat...I could have easily come to the conclusion that I was anything BUT deliberate last year. Again, I succeeded because I tried. I may have not had as much control as I would have liked, but I didn't give up. I never threw in the towel.


The question became, am I going to have a WORD for 2018. And the answer became, yes. I sat and thought about it. What would the word be? After all, there are how many to choose from?? Soon it came to me and it felt so right I knew this was my word.


                                                        CONSISTENT


Webster defines it this way: marked by harmony, regularity, or steady continuity : free from variation or contradiction  That last part is the idea I want to carry into this year. Free from variation or contradiction. Does my life, do my actions vary and contradict themselves? Is what I say agreeable to way I spend my time?  Do my thoughts and ideas bring harmony to my home and relationships? Am I steady in what I do or am I haphazard and bouncing like a loose ball down the court being chase by a very uncoordinated, clumsy lady?


My prayer is that you will see consistency in me. That you will continue to see a woman with deliberate intent to live out who she is in Christ. That when I cross your mind you will think of a woman who is steady and sure. Of my faith. Of my identity, Of my purpose.


That said, let me also say this, do NOT expect me to be perfect. You will be sorely disappointed. That is the one thing I can most certainly promise you. I am not, nor will I ever be, perfect while walking this earth. If you're looking for perfection, go somewhere else. Go to God, because He alone is perfect. When you look at me, think, she's trying. She might have failed today, but at least she is trying.


What will you try this year? Did you make a list of resolutions? Do you have a word for the year? Goals? Dreams? Life-altering decisions?