Posts tagged faith

Haha…Alright, I’m sure no one finds that quite as funny as I do. I apologize. Moving on.

Seriously, any girl…most girls in fact, catch themselves longing for the day they have that special someone to kiss good morning and goodnight. When we meet someone who makes our hearts skip a beat – it’s so easy to get caught up in the excitement and want to jump ahead of God’s perfect timing. It’s so easy to want to text /call/tweet/Facebook/email (pick your preferred source of modern day romantic communication) every morning and every night just to feel the comfort of giving and receiving a good morning and goodnight and a few x’s and o’s.

But is that really where we should draw our comfort from? Until you are at that point where it is clearer than the Oklahoma summer sky that God made you for each other – is it really healthy to allow yourself to get to the point emotionally where you can hardly stand going to sleep without hearing his voice or reading his text?

I’m not an expert on the subject…but I’m kind of thinking no. After all, Psalm 37:4 says: “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” If it’s a life-long companion and partner that your heart desires – Delight yourself in the Lord now…and he will give you your heart’s desire when the time is right.

So here is my challenge to myself and any other women in this lovely stage of life between adventurous girlhood and faithful wife -

·         Find your comfort every morning and evening in your Lord.

·         Instead of craving a good morning kiss; Delight in saying Good morning and Goodnight to your first love – Jesus. Try literally saying “Good morning, Beautiful Lord” When you first wake up.

·         Continue to respect your Dad as your leader on earth. Pushing our Dads away in order to “grow up and be on our own” will only fuel the God-given desire in you to have another man as a leader. Strong, independent women are still women…and God created us to desire a leader and protector. If anyone knows about wanting to do things on your own and be independent – it is me…but sometimes the need for guidance overrides the desire for independence – look to your Dad for that guidance.

·         Stay busy working for God – doing everything you do as if you are doing it for the Lord and not men. Sitting around and day dreaming about your future will not bring it about any faster, it will not encourage your mind to think only on whatever is pure, true, right and lovely, and it certainly won’t prepare you for that future. Working for God with your mind, body, and spirit will allow God to work in you and prepare you. God has a special work for you in every stage of your life, find your job for this stage and get crackin’! The Lord of the universe planned out this life special for you…trust him, he’s got this.

(Kelci L. Goad)

Every morning I spend quiet time with the Lord, reading and reflecting on a small portion of His word, and purposefully praying for His will in my life and those close to me. As of late, I’ve also been reading short devotions from a lovely little book called “Psalms to soothe a woman’s heart”. This morning, the reading literally made my heart beat faster and harder as I considered hurt from past friendships that has been a challenge to overcome. It challenged me, and it blessed me. Maybe it will do the same for you -

“Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow” - Psalm 64:6-7

Have you ever gotten up in the morning and remembered some deed done to you as if it just happened? You try to shake off the memory but you walk around all day feeling as though you’re under of cloud of anger.

God does not want your bitternesss to rob you of the power and joy he has for you. That is why he will target it like a bowman with an arrow, so that you will deal with the issue consuming your thoughts, energy, and emotions.

It is easy to cling to feelings of unforgiveness, anger, or resentment, but God calls you to do the opposite - forgive and move beyond the hurt. When you let go of past sorrows, you are free to accept the blessings he has for you.

Lord, I am in awe of your awesome love. Thank you for revealing my old wouds and healing me of their pain.

-“Psalms to soothe a woman’s heart” Published by Bethany House

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” Romans 8:37

This is a story and short bio I wrote a little over a year ago…you can now read it and several other encouraging short stories written by ladies all over the world in “Tough times don’t last ~ Tough women do” Now available on www.teafortheheart.com!

(Copyright © 2011 by A Cup of Tea for the Heart, LLC. All rights reserved.)

About five years ago I met one of the loves of my life— Breezy, a bay six-year-old Quarter Horse mare.She was nothing but a trail horse at the time and quite frankly not much to look at. Her coat wasn’t particularly shiny, she wasn’t all that strong and there had been a time in her life when she had been mistreated, and as a result she had  some trust issues … but none  of this mattered to me. In  fact,  at  the  time  I  didn’t  even  notice  how  unattractive she was physically. See, Breezy may have been “just a trail horse” but  when  I rode  her for the  first time, she and I  had  an  instant  bond that  even  my professional  trainers were amazed at. Horse crazy, starry-eyed, and with a passion for training horses, I was able to look right past her dull, shaggy hair, and  I saw something special in Breezy.  I wanted to help her become the best she could be.

The following fall we started making payments on Breezy  and  with  that,  I  started setting  goals  for her  and for both  of us as a team. With the help of my trainer, I was going to bring out Breezy’s inner barrel racer!

Just like in most things, there are many views on how to go  about training a barrel horse. I wanted a sure way, not  a fast  way or an  easy way,  but  a sure way.  I wanted to set her up for long-term success. Thankfully, I was blessed to know a very good trainer and friend to guide me along the way. So began the long process of building  a successful  barrel  horse!  It  started with  getting  her as healthy as possible—adding supplements to her feed, having the appropriate health professionals work on her, and exercising her every day. The next step was getting her  as “broke”  as possible … meaning,  making  sure she was a master at responding to all of the very basic cues I’d give her while on and off her back. Little did Breezy know, with each ride she was one step closer to becoming an equine athlete.

Once Breezy was in top physical condition  and well broke, it was time for the skill drills! Skill drills are exercises to practice different components of the barrel pattern before trying to master the entire pattern all at once. At a glance, barrel racing is simply 4 straight lines and  3 turns, but when the timer is counting down to the hundredth of each second, every tiny detail of those lines and circles count! Rather than trying to shove all the information for the entire pattern into both my horse’s and my head at  once, we  did  skill  drills.  And  skill  drills  we  did! There was a drill that  taught us how to line up for the first barrel turn, another drill taught us how to leave a barrel turn, yet another drill that taught us how to quickly pick up speed and then quickly slow down again for another tight turn. The list goes on. Some of the drills came naturally, and we mastered them in little time. Other drills took weeks and weeks before Breezy understood and we did them  once correctly. Always, the more  calm, trusting, and focused on me that Breezy was, the quicker we were able to move  on.  With each ride, Breezy  and  I became closer and a better working team. Over time, Breezy learned that she could totally trust me and that if she simply tried what I asked, there  would be a reward. With each of these drills I was teaching Breezy  something, a small piece of the big pattern that was to come. Of course, she was learning these small components along the way without any idea that  they’d  all  be  fitting  together someday. I  purposely kept Breezy from seeing the big picture of the full pattern until she had mastered all of the pieces (including trust) first.

Where am I going with this anyway? The analogy didn’t really  dawn  on  me  until  this  year,  but  I  think  God  has a few  skill  drills  up  His  sleeve!  I  have  often  found  myself in a situation that seemed like it had no point other than frustration, only to find out later it had  a lesson to learn or reminder in it.I’m sure you’ve had  many  of these experiences as well. Sometimes it’s just a little thing you learn about yourself; sometimes it’s a huge  lesson about life. I like to think this means God is training us the sure way. He’s setting us up for long-term success! Even recently I’ve been in situations full of frustration and heartache that I still have  yet to understand what  I’m supposed to learn from  them, but  here’s the exciting  thing  about  that—it means God  isn’t  done with  me  yet!  It  means God  sees past all the dirt, horse hair, and more importantly—the sin that  I’m constantly covered in. He’s looking into my heart and He is seeing something special. God is sending all these ‘skill drills’ my way to see how I handle them,  for me to learn life skills, and most of all for me to learn to trust Him  completely  so that  He can  train  me  to be  the  best I can be. How exciting! No matter how confusing and tough the situation is, it gives me such a peace knowing God is my trainer!  Just like  I kept  Breezy  from seeing  the  barrel pattern until she was ready, God is keeping me from being able  to  see His  life  plan  for me  until  I’m  ready.  If  I  keep calm, trusting, and focused on Him through all of the skill drills, with God as my trainer … how can  I go wrong?!

So what happened? Today, Breezy is a successful barrel horse, and she continues to stay consistent and move forward.  Not  only  that,  but  she’s  gorgeous!  I  constantly get comments on her beauty, her shiny coat, long soft mane and tail, and beautiful head. She’s not always the fastest horse in the arena but she’s a crowd favorite wherever we go.

Breezy is a constant reminder to me. Occasionally she’ll  think  she now  has barrel  racing  mastered—I  can just see it in her eyes when she’s thinking, Kelci, I could win this race by myself. I don’t need your help! Well she’s probably right, but her attitude isn’t very nice. Since we do have to work as a team, if she goes into the arena with that  attitude, we aren’t going to succeed. It’s those days that I see Breezy as a good  reminder to check my attitude. I’m afraid all too often  I find I have  the same disrespectful attitude: God, I can handle this situation by myself. I don’t need your help this time! Wow. How dare  I?!  There  is  no way with that  attitude I’m going to succeed in the  ‘arena of life.’ Now, when Breezy is willing, trusting, and runs her heart out for me at a race, she’s a perfect example of the complete  trust and  willingness  I  should  have  in  and  for the Lord. Her heart and determination are an inspiration to me.  I pray  that  I run the  race  of life determined and  with my whole heart in it for the Lord!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

and lean not on your own understanding;

in all your ways acknowledge Him,

and He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5

Kelci L. Goad

I’m nineteen years old and  blessed with strong Christian parents, three brothers, one  ‘sister-in-love’  and  two  horses. Homeschooling  all  the way through high school has been one  of the  biggest blessings in my life thus far. I was able to discover and  explore my passion for training horses and  training people to train horses in much more  detail because of the  flexible schedule of studying from home. Along with training and competing on my own  horse, I had  several horse-related jobs through my high school years, including everything from mucking out  stalls to being a training apprentice my senior year with one  of the  leading professional trainers and  barrel racers in the Northwest. Now with a dream to turn  my passion  into  a career, I’m  going  to continue  my education studying equine business. I can’t wait to introduce more  people both young  and  old to the  wonderful world of horses!

This story is from Tough Times Don’t Last ~ Tough Women Do, now available on www.teafortheheart.com.

Copyright © 2011 by A Cup of Tea for the Heart, LLC. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in
any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the
prior permission of the authors except as provided by USA copyright law.

All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New
International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

“Honor and Respect have nothing to do with the accolades of the person receiving. It has everything to do with the heart of the one giving.”

Funny how God works isn’t it? I began writing today with full intentions to write about respect. While this is still what I’m writing about, my perspective has changed in the last half hour. Many of my friends could tell you, lately I have been fed. up. with disrespectful people. I and people close to me have been burned, taken for granted and just plain hurt by people who clearly have little regards for anyone other than themselves and certainly are showing no respect toward us. I know I’m not the only person who vents through writing, so you’ll understand when I say that over the past few weeks I’ve just been itching for an opportunity to sit down and write about respect. Simply treating others the way you’d like to be treated. Not going to lie…being the human I am, I have even jokingly talked to my friends about writing a blog post on respect and tagging ‘friends’ on Facebook who have shown us little to no respect lately. Somehow though, between then and now, at some point God did a little tuning on my heart. I’m not sure if it was during the usual prayer I pray before I write or while I was reading scriptures on respect for inspiration…but something changed. A thought crossed my mind…one that has come to me before but in the past it has left as quickly as a balloon in the Oklahoma wind. Today, it is lingering. Though I must confess I’m still struggling to accept this thought even as I write, I suppose I’ll share it. Here goes: “Am I supposed to show respect to those who are more hurtful to me and my friends and more careless with my emotions than I could have ever imagined?” Ready for the sting? I feel God answering this question on my heart with a simple but powerful “Yes”.

My next question: But WHY?!? Simply put. Not because of whom they are. Not because of whom I am. But because of who’s I am.

Now, don’t get me totally wrong here. I still believe there is a point where confronting a brother or sister in Christ about their actions is something we are called to do. And believe you me, I will do just that. However, this too should be done in a respectful manor. Motives should be checked and pride should be buried…confrontation is done out of love and concern and with God’s guidance. And confrontation is not harassment, there comes a point that once the issue has been addressed we must return to working on our personal relationship with God and leave others to work on theirs.

Back to who’s I am. Eleven years ago this September I made a commitment, giving my life over to Christ to no longer live for myself but to live for Him. Eleven years ago I made it my life goal to please my Father in heaven. Eleven years ago I asked God to make me His shining light in this world but not of this world.  How am I to be this shining light?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43)

Those of this world say respect is given based on what people do. Those of this world say if someone knocks you down, you knock them down ten times harder. Those of this world say if someone hits you, hit them back.

But what if - respect is given based on the heart of the person giving it. What if you think – if someone knocks you down, you are in the perfect position to pray for guidance?  What if someone hits you, you turn the other cheek. Would this not be the ultimate imitation of our role model Christ Jesus and an awesome sign of true trust in God? To refrain from any retaliation based upon the fact that you know God will take care of it, and God will take care of you. Wow. I pray that God would give me such a heart.

1Peter 2: 11-25 says;

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. ¹²Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. ¹⁷ Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

¹⁸ Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. ¹⁹ For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. ²⁰ But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

 ²² “He committed no sin,
   and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

 ²³ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” ²⁵ For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

A couple of Sundays ago the preacher gave a sermon on Honoring One Another. He brought the scripture Phil. 2:3 to our attention. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” (Yes, I’m thinking this includes those who are more hurtful to us than we can even grasp! :-o ) He posed a good question – WHO DOES THAT?! Haha. Of course, he had an answer. Apparently this idea of considering others better than ourselves that is so foreign to this world was actually a characteristic of some of the most Godly men in the new testament, including Epaphroditus (Phil 2:25-28), Timothy (Phil 2:19), and Jesus himself(Phil 2:5). Imagine that.  

So I’ve been looking at this as someone who has been hurt. On the flip side, I believe that this is also something to take in to consideration if I have hurt someone. Sometimes hurt happens unintentionally, it could be because we simply don’t think through something we should or it could be completely innocent – not being able to predict what-so-ever that our words or actions might hurt. Even once we hear of hurt we have caused – we may not understand why it hurt. But if I put the hurt friend’s needs above my own needs and even above my own understanding…It will please my Father’s heart.

Lord, help me to remember all day every day that I am yours. Help me to lead others to respect by pure example. Give me a tender heart full of respect and love. Please give me a spirit of humility helping me to hold others – all others – in higher regard than myself.