I confess that change is difficult for me. I am a creature of habit. I seem to go to the same restaurants, order the same food, and watch the same sappy movies....because those are all things I can count on. We seem to all find ourselves at times in our lives kicked out of our comfort zone...and forced to change. I struggle with that! Looking back, I can see the lessons that God was teaching me all along, but while I am in the midst of the scene change, I struggle to see the trees because of the change that clouds my view. God is showing me more and more that He is about change. I think I am coming to realize that for each of us change means we are growing.
Recently, I had an amazing week with my youth group at Impact. There I saw myself in the faces of those teens who just a short time ago said good-bye to someone they loved and hello to change. I started looking back at this amazing journey that God placed us on when we answered His call years ago. God has placed me time and time again in a sort of cocoon that in His time, when He was ready for me to break free, He has slowly and ever so gently nudged me to escape what binds me. Just like the butterfly must break free, I am seeing how our Father requires change...metamorphosis. I am becoming a new creature in the hands of God. I used to dig my heels into the box around my comfort zone...but now, I see how truly beautiful change can be and am learning to embrace it.
Without change, you and I would never grow. Without change, we would have missed all the new pathways along the way that God longed to show us on this journey. I think back to all the amazing people that God put in my life through these changes. I know without a doubt that when I trust my Father completely with my life....even when it requires me to change directions....that God will bless me more than I could hope or imagine.
I pray that God shows you a beautiful pathway today. I pray that you open your eyes along the way to truly see the beauty along the journey as you grow into what God planned for you to be all along.
In His Grip! Wendi
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Wendi's Words
God has really been laying a ministry on my heart. I am so passionate about girl’s and women’s ministry because of the precious heart that we can have for God. When God grabs hold of the heart of a woman, and I mean grabs hold with reckless abandon, the world around her will never be the same. She will impact her family, her church, her friends, and the world around her.
My message comes from being a woman, just like you, who through my trials and obstacles have seen God use some amazing women to carry me when I didn’t have the strength to carry myself. Through my Christian walk, I have really needed these women for guidance and I think I’ve learned what Paul meant when he said, in Titus 2, “let the older women teach the young.” I just didn’t realize I’d be over 40 and now considered one of those older women. I kind of liked it better when some of you were the older women, you know? But the truth is, I believe that God placed a calling on my life a long time ago….long before I even knew that I ‘d be married to a minister…long before I found the courage to speak in front of people. I believe that within each of us, God has placed the same calling. My prayer is that each of us will answer the call of Titus 2.
I believe this journey as a woman longing to understand my purpose began sometime ago. In 1996, a book entitled, “Becoming a Vessel God Can Use” was written by a Christian author named Donna Partow placed me on a road to discovery about my purpose. I am still continuing on this journey still today. This book took me to a level in my walk with God during my personal bible study like none other. It challenged me to look deep within myself and ask some of the difficult questions. I am only going to ask you the difficult questions I had to ask myself. So get ready.
In it, she asks the question, what kind of vessel are you? What kind of vessel are you?
I’m not sure I had ever really thought about the kind of vessel I was. When you think of what kind of vessel you are, what kind words come to mind? Maybe words like “chipped”, “cracked” or “broken” come to mind come to mind. Maybe you feel like an old earthen ware pitcher I have that sits on my counter top. It’s had a rough life…and you can see it’s wear and tear. If you could have chosen to be any other vessel, you would have…but you couldn’t. When I asked you what vessel you were did you see yourself as a crystal pitcher? See, I’m flashy…so I’d pick something with a little flair to represent me. After all, you look good on the outside…I mean really good…at a distance and people really admire how you sparkle in the light…but you never want them to get too close or they’ll see those cracks that you’ve wanted to keep hidden.
I don’t know how you see yourself. I don’t know what kind of background you came from…but ladies…I’ll tell you something, the image that we keep in our heads of the vessel that we think we are…often hinders us from seeing ourselves the way God does. Let me say that again, “The image that we keep in our heads of the vessel we think we are…often hinders us from seeing ourselves the way God does.”
So, my question for you is: What kind of vessel are you?
My message comes from being a woman, just like you, who through my trials and obstacles have seen God use some amazing women to carry me when I didn’t have the strength to carry myself. Through my Christian walk, I have really needed these women for guidance and I think I’ve learned what Paul meant when he said, in Titus 2, “let the older women teach the young.” I just didn’t realize I’d be over 40 and now considered one of those older women. I kind of liked it better when some of you were the older women, you know? But the truth is, I believe that God placed a calling on my life a long time ago….long before I even knew that I ‘d be married to a minister…long before I found the courage to speak in front of people. I believe that within each of us, God has placed the same calling. My prayer is that each of us will answer the call of Titus 2.
I believe this journey as a woman longing to understand my purpose began sometime ago. In 1996, a book entitled, “Becoming a Vessel God Can Use” was written by a Christian author named Donna Partow placed me on a road to discovery about my purpose. I am still continuing on this journey still today. This book took me to a level in my walk with God during my personal bible study like none other. It challenged me to look deep within myself and ask some of the difficult questions. I am only going to ask you the difficult questions I had to ask myself. So get ready.
In it, she asks the question, what kind of vessel are you? What kind of vessel are you?
I’m not sure I had ever really thought about the kind of vessel I was. When you think of what kind of vessel you are, what kind words come to mind? Maybe words like “chipped”, “cracked” or “broken” come to mind come to mind. Maybe you feel like an old earthen ware pitcher I have that sits on my counter top. It’s had a rough life…and you can see it’s wear and tear. If you could have chosen to be any other vessel, you would have…but you couldn’t. When I asked you what vessel you were did you see yourself as a crystal pitcher? See, I’m flashy…so I’d pick something with a little flair to represent me. After all, you look good on the outside…I mean really good…at a distance and people really admire how you sparkle in the light…but you never want them to get too close or they’ll see those cracks that you’ve wanted to keep hidden.
I don’t know how you see yourself. I don’t know what kind of background you came from…but ladies…I’ll tell you something, the image that we keep in our heads of the vessel that we think we are…often hinders us from seeing ourselves the way God does. Let me say that again, “The image that we keep in our heads of the vessel we think we are…often hinders us from seeing ourselves the way God does.”
So, my question for you is: What kind of vessel are you?
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