It is only natural that most of us spend some time reflecting on our lives when a new year begins. Some of us even jump on the New Year's resolutions bandwagon with great ambition to make some positive changes in our lives as the new year kicks off. I have done that many, many, many times myself! And if I am completely honest, most of my great ambitions end up falling to the wayside when life goes through its inevitable twists and turns. My focus shifts, and I have a hard time getting back on track most of the time, and the begin to feel defeated for not accomplishing what I had set out to do. This year however, I inquired of the Lord on how to break this cycle I have found myself in so many times. It just so happened that as I asked this question I was looking at the piles of notebooks and random scrap pieces of paper stacked in a pile on my desk. These are items that I had collected over the last year. Notes from books I had read, sermon notes, words of encouragement, prophetic words, and various other items that were on my "someday" to do list. As I looked at the stack on my desk I felt a little sad and frustrated. Here were so many wonderful tidbits that I had read or thought about over the last year and most of them had gotten no further than being written down on a piece of paper, that was now piled up on my desk. I moved the stack to the middle of my desk and sighed. Proverbs 29:18 tells us that "Where there is no vision, the people perish". I had lots of things in these pages that I felt were important enough to write down and that I was passionate about, but I had no clear vision. So this is why year after year I felt as if I was stuck in the same place of making very little progress in various aspects of my life. In some areas of my life I felt unfulfilled and if I was in fact perishing. Then the Lord in His goodness, brought me to Habakkuk 2:2 which states, "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it." NKJV. This is just what I needed - I wanted to run - run in pursuit of the clear vision of what God has planned for my life! It became clear to me that what I had done in writing these things down was at least one step in the right direction. However I needed to go through and organize all of these random pieces of paper and notebooks. I ended up with three main categories: Encouragement & Prophetic Words, Wisdom & Teachings, and To Do's & Goals. Now I'm going to tell you what I am doing with each of these three categories.
As the priority items from each stack made their way to the forefront I began to see a pattern emerge between them. The Holy Spirit began to highlight things from these pages of notes and I could see the vision the Lord was giving me for this new year and passion was ignited in my heart. Through this process I was able to write the vision and make it plain, and I now have a way of keeping that vision in front of me constantly as well. At the beginning of each week I pray and begin filling in my schedule for the week. This helps keep me accountable, not so much to the daily things of life that we deal with all the time, but accountable for the dreams, vision, and passion that God has laid upon my heart, because if I don't make it a priority and schedule the time for it, life will all too easily take over, or I will be tempted to volunteer my time in areas I should not be spending my time. That doesn't mean we shouldn't be flexible. We need to write our plans in pencil and give God the eraser, and let Him lead us each day. God has called us to be an intentional people. Intentional in our pursuit of Him, intentional about the call God has placed on our life, intentional in our love towards others, and intentional in maintaining the vision God has given us. Be intentional this year and pursue your vision - write the vision and make it clear!
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I have been slowing chipping away at typing up some of my old journals over the last several months. It has been quite a process and has brought up many emotions as well. I have seen how far I have come from where I was over ten years ago. I was in a place of bondage and hopelessness, yet there was something that amazed me. Somehow, despite the circumstances of my life at the time, I was steadfast in my relationship with the Lord and furthermore, grateful. My life a decade ago looked much different than it does now. It was filled with anger, anxiety, fear, desperation, and hopelessness. Yet there was a light in that dark cave, and I chose to draw ever closer to that light. The light, love, and warmth of my relationship with Jesus. I knew He was my only hope to the situation I found myself in - a situation brought about by my own bad decisions. What has struck me as I am typing up these entries is that I almost always took the time to thank the Lord for even the littlest things in my life. It has caused me to question, am I as grateful now? Do I express to Him often enough how thankful I am for the blessings He brings to my life each and every day? Sadly, I think I'm not. My life still has issues and obstacles to overcome, but I am not in such a state of absolute despair as I was back then. If anything I should be more grateful because I am out of that dark cave. Sometimes we have to remember how far we have come to regain our perspective and renew a thankful heart within ourselves. So today I have decided my complacency in being thankful to the Lord for even the littlest of things needs to come to an end. I am going to have a change my focus and be more intentional about telling the Lord the things I am thankful for - everything from the sun shining outside to the love of my husband. I will start with what prompted this blog post to begin with - the beginning of my journal entry from April 7, 2008: "Lord I want to thank you for all the blessings you have brought into our lives. This house we are now living in, the people who will come through the doors of this house for time of fellowship, the church family that we are so blessed to be a part of and the prayers you have answered on behalf of our family." As we come upon our monthly fellowship gathering this weekend I am reminded that while it was my hearts desire to have our house open to have fellowship with others when I originally wrote those words, there were several years where that was not even a possibility. On any given day you never knew what the atmosphere would be like in the house, but more often than not it was tense and hostile, and not at all inviting. I simply did not invite anyone over because I feared what would result from it. In 2008 I was thankful for it before it was even a reality. I can now very happily say that our home is always open to anyone who stops in. Fellowship thrives in our home and is such a blessing to us. So today Lord, I just want to thank you for answered prayer to one of my heart's desires was all those years ago. Thank you that this home is now a place where your Spirit resides and our doors are open to fellowship with others. I am thankful to have a home where Your peace is all around us. It is no longer a house, but truly a home. "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:15 So what are you thankful for? Share in the comments section below. Copyright 2017 Christine Edwards
Last January I did a post on New Year's resolutions and how it seemed so much simpler to choose just one word to focus on for the year than it was a list of things I wanted to accomplish. Last year that word for me was "action". (See last year's blog post here) As the first of this year came around I pondered how effectively I had pursued taking action in 2016. As I reflected I found that I started off strong at the beginning of the year, but a little less than halfway through the year, with life's twist, turns, struggles, and events, action became less of the word that was defining my year and I was continually slipping into survival mode. I have spent most of this month pondering how I should approach 2017 and what word would set the tone for me this year. I wasn't pleased with how my one word resolution for last year turned out and thought perhaps I should use 2017 as a do-over on my "action" resolution from last year. But what I realized was that it wasn't that I was failing to take action on things last year, it wasn't that I was being lazy, or lacked desire; the problem with last year was that I had failed to quickly overcome the stumbling blocks that appeared in my path. I failed to overcome words spoken to me that caused me to doubt my direction and calling in life, or events that happened that were contrary to the vision I had for my life. I let these things devastate me and stop me in my tracks at times. I took the words of people to heart because they came from people I loved and respected, when I should have held tight to God's Word and the words He had spoken to me. I let events make me question if I was on the right path or if I had missed it and gotten off course. Yes, I would eventually get up again and begin moving forward, but often it wasn't for days or even months. My vision became cloudy as self-doubt crept in. I questioned how I could move forward when I could no longer clearly see where I was going. So there it was, it was not lack of action that caused the prior year to be less productive and fruitful than I had hoped, it was my inability to quickly overcome the stumbling blocks placed in my path and hold fast to God's truth. So my word for 2017 is "overcome". John 16:33 tells us, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." So because Jesus lives in me that means that I have overcome and will continue to overcome. I just need to focus on the truth of God's word and let it take root deep in my soul. May I be of good cheer through tribulation because I know without a doubt that I will overcome, and that in Jesus I have peace no matter what I am facing. I am an overcomer - and so are you! So here is to 2017 - the year of the overcomer! Copyright 2017 Christine Edwards Faithful & True. This was my new name coming away from a women's encounter a little over a year ago. It was part of an activity where we prayed and reflected on the things the Lord wanted us to depart from - bondage, sin, wounds, unforgiveness, or anything else the Lord quickened us to. We were then to go to the wooden cross they had laying on the floor, pick up a hammer and pound a nail into the cross. Upon finishing this we were to pick up one of the cards that were scattered on the floor laying face down and that was to be our new name that we would be walking away from this encounter with. Mine was Faithful & True. It struck a cord with me as I had not always been like that in my relationship with the Lord, or my relationships with others, but I knew without a doubt that this was something that had been transformed in my life and I could honestly take hold of that new name. It wasn't something I had to aspire to or grow into, it was already what I had become.
Do you ever feel like your story doesn't matter and that the past is the past and should just be left there? I feel that way myself from time to time. But this week something happened that changed my perspective. I recently spoke with a friend of mine and she told me that she has really been enjoying the things I have been posting on Facebook recently. In particular, she brought up an article I had shared on 3 Signs of Sexual Abuse in Marriage. I didn't say much in reference to the article other than that as I was reading the article it was a snapshot of my daily life at one point in time, and that I was truly thankful to not be living like that any longer. I talked about how it made me sad that the issue was not addressed more than it was and that most women are afraid to speak about it. I ended my thoughts by encouraging women who are experiencing this type of abuse to find someone they could trust to speak to and not to suffer alone. When I made that post I didn't put a lot of thought into it, it was something I could relate to and makes my heart ache for others who are going through such abuse. I didn't even really share much about my personal story, but that little tidbit I did share affected someone and meant a lot to them. It greatly encouraged me when she shared this with me. Aside from the people I am real close to, I have not shared a lot of my personal story. But by putting that little bit of my story out there, it made a difference to someone, and perhaps even more. We have all gone through hardships in life that have left us wounded and disoriented. But when we receive healing and are able to move past those things and even talk about them with others, then we should know that God can use those things in our lives to help and encourage others. So no matter what your story is, don't be afraid to share it when you feel that it will benefit another person. All things - the good, the bad, and the ugly can help encourage and uplift someone else. Your story matters and it can make a difference in another person's life. Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. Copyright 2016 Christine Edwards 'Maybe you are one of those people who commit to New Year's resolutions each year and by this time of year you have already fallen off track from where you wanted to be. I myself am one of those that struggle to keep all the resolutions I put on my list at the beginning of each year. A couple weeks ago I noticed that my husband (John) had started a new devotional on the YouVersion Bible app called One Word That Will Change Your Life. So I decided to check it out for myself. It challenges you to seek the Lord and choose one word to be the theme for your year. It is a unique spin on New Year's resolutions that I had never heard of, and I can tell you this much, one word is so much easier to remember than everything I had written down on my list of New Year's resolutions. Over the course of a few days I had a three words that I felt would be good words for me for 2016. As I prayed about it the Lord made it clear to me which of those words I needed to choose to make my word for the year. It was the word ACTION. I am a thinker. I think and ponder a lot. That is not a bad thing, but doing a lot of thinking and not taking much action doesn't accomplish a whole lot when all is said and done. I often write notes and to do lists when the Lord gives me ideas, or shows me things I need to do, or things that I need to work on. But sometimes that is far as I get, especially when it is not a pressing matter. Sometimes time gets away from me or things come up in life that take over. The reasons why I don't take action vary, but the end result when I don't take action on things is often a feeling of failure and being disappointed in myself. Just as the Word tells us in James 1:22 to "be doers of the word, and not hearers only," I believe the Lord wants us to not only think about things, but to do the things He has laid upon our hearts. So this is my one word theme for the year - ACTION. If you have gotten sidetracked from your New Year's resolutions I would encourage you to try this one word approach. It may take you further in the course of a year than the list ever would have. Copyright 2016 Christine Edwards Many of us have heard that there are 365 passages in the Bible telling us do not fear. One for each day of the year. Fear can be crippling and it can paralyze us from doing the work God has called us to do.
I have a personal testimony about overcoming fear. Since I was a child I have had a fear of guns. It has been something that I have always told myself one day I would conquer. One day I would actually fire a gun and put that fear behind me. So a date was set as part of a sending off of one of the sons our family is really close to. He was going to be leaving for boot camp in the Air Force and had wanted all of us to go to the shooting range with him. We were there with well trained military veterans and I had no doubt we would be in a safe environment and in very capable hands. I was doing okay, that is until the moment we got there. The Federal application to obtain nonprofit status is quite a lengthy application that takes a lot of thought and preparation. I have been at work on this for the last couple of months in my spare time around work and family activities and my goal is to have it completed and submitted before the end of this calendar year. It is going slow... much slower than I would like. I have been struggling to properly convey what God has laid on our hearts for this ministry into written form in a way that it will connect with the hearts of others. After all, some of these documents that are submitted become public record so it is important we our purpose be clear and connect people. But God in His patient and oh so gentle way reminded me of the day He gave me the name Open Window Ministries because the day He gave me the name of the ministry was the same day He showed me that this ministry was not going to be based solely upon the gifts an abilities He has blessed me with, but on the gifts and abilities of a group of individuals that He would put together. So there it was, my 'Ah-ha' moment. So simple. Yet I was so caught up in the process of the task at hand that I failed to remember that I'm not supposed to be doing this alone, even though I view this application process as a task that surely no one else would be overly excited to help with. God has aligned us with some very gifted, loving, and committed individuals who will do anything to help in any way that they can. I just needed to get out of my own way and ask for help on the things that I conceived in my own mind that no one would really want to help with. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, or a sign that you don't have your act together. One of God's greatest desires is to see the Body of Christ working together in love and in unity. So whatever is challenging you, seek the Lord and ask Him who He has brought into your life that can help you, then go to that person and share with them what you are struggling with and ask for their help. It may very well be just as much of a blessing to them as it is to you. Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Copyright 2015 Christine Edwards Our official date of incorporation as a non-profit corporation with the State of Vermont took place on September 14, 2015. As I got up that morning to spend time in the Word and pray I knew that it was going to be the day that I got the paperwork submitted with the state. This was going to be a big step for us; a step of obedience in what God was asking us to do. As I sat in the chair with my Bible and my journal I wrote about the dream God had given me just hours before I awoke. In my dream I saw a double rainbow. It was beautiful and vibrant in color and before my eyes the double rainbow turned into a triple rainbow and then a quadruple rainbow! I was in awe of what I was witnessing in my dream. I was in the process of getting my son ready for school and getting my work laid out on the table for the day ahead when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I looked out the front window and low and behold there was a rainbow! Shocked I opened up the front door and stepped outside. It was not only one rainbow but two! It was a beautiful sight and even my neighbor on her way to work had stopped on the road to take a picture of God's masterpiece in the sky. My excitement could not be contained as I called my son to come and see it and then ran upstairs to wake John to come take a look.No the rainbow did not turn to a triple or quadruple as I admired it, but I was beyond blessed to see those rainbows that morning. For me this was God's way of telling me that the plans I had for the day were right on task with what He wanted me to do. I believe that as we step forward in obedience to what He has called us to do, we will see multiplication of blessings in many ways just as those rainbows multiplied in my dream. And God didn't stop there. He also ended the day with a beautiful sunset! Thank you Lord for the signs and wonders that you so lovingly give us to encourage us along the way! Copyright 2015 Christine Edwards |
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