Be my muscles, not the spotter as I try to lift the weight

Lord,

Wow! I am just so overwhelmed and grateful that you have been strategically putting people in my life all along to prepare me for what's next with you.  After praying for a long time that you would bring a mentor into my life, you did just that. I was not something I orchestrated or she orchestrated, it just happened. We were serving together and I saw something in her that made me say, "I want to learn from her" as I got to know her and see her serve alongside me.

Last night, I had the privilege of sitting with this wise woman of faith in a coffee shop to share my heart, my insecurities, and the places in me that desperately needed prayer.  Lord, as I start walking towards this new relationship with Ryan, she reminded me of the importance of clinging to your word and truth. She directs me back to you and reminds of who you are and how that informs this next walk of faith.

Lord, she spoke truth into some things that I will need to let go of if I enter into this relationship. She's reminded me that you will not forsake me regardless of the outcome over the next months and years.

God, I want nothing more than for you to refine me in this process. Make me more like you. I can't do this on my own. I can't let go of the fear, if you aren't on the other end of that rope I'm holding onto. I can't keep these hands open and stop my fists from clenching tight in fear, if I don't truly know deep inside that you are going to take my hand and guide me in the good and not so good.

Lord, I was listening to Beth Moore in my 2 Timothy bible study today and she stated, "perfectionism will ruin your ministry."  God, because I am in you, you have placed a calling over my life.  How it will all play out is in your hands. At the end of the day though, the thorn in my flesh is perfectionism. I want to do it the right way, no mistakes. And while a desire to do the right thing isn't in and of itself bad, I have to be careful. I am a sinner in need of grace. My story gleams of that. I never want to forget the dark times in life where you came to find me and reminded me that I didn't have to be who I was and that I was a new creation. Father God, I pray that you would release me from judgement of others or self-righteousness that doesn't even the playing field. My sins may have different coverings, but inside they are still sin all the same.  Help me to approach others as a fellow sinner in need of grace, wanting to grow and find the character of who you are in the everyday.

Lord, forgive me. All to often, I become like that person at the gym who tries to lift way too much weight and out of pride doesn't ask for someone to help. God, I need you to be my muscles because on my own I can't lift all that is ahead. I feel overwhelmed by how to make it all happen.  But God, I give it to you and ask that you be my strength and my shield. When I want to procrastinate due to perfectionism, remind me that it is in your strength and not mine.

Thanks for being a God of redemption.  Give me a heart to encourage others, as you have encouraged me.

Amen:)

With all I have,

Aud

An Untitled Future

I used to be afraid of being duped but now I'm more afraid of putting up so many walls in fear that I never allow myself love.  God, you have not only been in my past circumstances but you are just as much in my current circumstances.

As you know God, this last weekend marked an important milestone. Ryan came to meet "my people." These are the people who know the best and worst of me. They know my history and they know what I'm capable of in the future.  During the day prior to Ryan's arrival Friday night, I had this intense feeling of nerves.  In a way, I felt vulnerable to open up my world to someone who may or may not be a part of my future.  But there's this deep trust in my heart, Lord, that you know what your doing regardless of the outcome.  

The feeling that I was going to throw up from being so nervous quickly subsided as soon as he made his way to the door. There's just something about his presence that disarms me. He has this gentle spirit and a way of always communicating a deep respect for me even with his presence.  

God, he just eased into an intense weekend of meeting so many of my people with such an amazing attitude. He knew this was important to me, so therefore it was important to him.  I found out later that he even had a talk with my Dad about his respect for me.  Such a display of genuineness was never really a thought for me, but in retrospect it meant so much.  There was just such a consistency in his stories about him and his life regardless of who talked with him.  

Lord, I really like him.  With the blessing of my family and friends, I feel like I can move forward. I may still get hurt in the end, but my heart is getting involved and it's getting harder to fight it.  I trust you've got this. I trust that you have my future and I don't need to hold my fists so tightly that I can't be open to where you might be leading.

Lord, can you continue to show me how to communicate my care for him, at the same time protecting my heart from moving too fast?

God, while I know it's wise to get my people involved and have their insight, I pray that your voice would be the one I follow. Make your way clear, God. 

I pray for Ryan, Lord, that you remain his top priority. Lord, I pray for the things we've talked about that he feels you have led him to, Lord. I pray that he would meet you there and that your character would shine through the people he meets. God, I pray that you would bring Christians that can be vulnerable and accountable and want to be rooted deeper in you.  

Lord, I pray for his family. I may never meet them, but I already care about them--because I know Ryan does.  God, regardless of what they may think of me or the incongruence of their values with my relationship with Ryan--may I always have a heart to remember that at the end of the day--they are holding on to what they believe to be important to them and what they believe to be important to you. And while my view of you may differ and what I believe you value, help me never to lose respect and love for these people who have loved and raised, Ryan, to make him the man he is today. God, if it be your will, I pray that you would plant seeds of openness. At the same time, I recognize their family is in a state of shock with so many health concerns right now.  Lord, I pray that you bridge the gap for Ryan of where he wants his family to be and where they are right now. God--give him patience,wisdom, integrity, and character to trust you with changing their hearts rather than himself changing them.

Thanks for continuing to give me opportunities to trust, God. My heart is in this and I'm ready to be open to love--if that's what you have on the road ahead.

Love,

Aud

You Cannot Find Love if You Cannot Risk

My nephew has a curious obsession with spies. In his 5 year old mind, he dreams of the day he will stealthily sneak around to uncover the hidden evil of the world.  He grasped my hand as we entered the apartment complex, and warned me that only the best spies know how to keep quiet. I'm not sure if this was something he read or a sly technique his mother taught him to keep the neighbors happy. Nonetheless, it seemed like a reasonable task in our adventure as psuedo-spys.

When I start to think about my own  life though, sometimes I play the same game of spy.  I get so fearful of being manipulated, lied to, or hurt--that I feel the need to assume the worst in efforts to self-protect.  

But tonight in as I study 2nd Timothy; I took a look at Paul's love for Timothy.  But when we think of loving someone, Beth Moore writes, "It shoves you out there where your heart is exposed to the elements, to a place where you can really get hurt." She then goes on to say, "But what is life if we never love others past the rational sensibilities of self- protection." 

Golly-- guilty as charged!

I've recently been getting to know a guy I met on e-harmony.  While I've had a profile on the sites, I've never truly desired that my love story involve an online site.  Partially from bad experiences in the past, I've seen too many times a person can make themselves seem whoever they want to be when they are your only source information about their own character.  I don't think they do it out malicious intent, but I think when you are trying to impress someone many people often embellish who they are with stories of how they'd like to be portrayed. But only time and context can shape this more.

So as I develop a new friendship with this guy, I'm being stretched in a lot of good ways. I want to be wise, don't get me wrong but I'm intently choosing to give things a chance and to choose to believe the best as I continue to collect data.  But I have to throw off my spy gear, because truly loving someone even as a friend, requires our own appropriate vulnerability. It requires to be open about our beliefs, opinions, and thoughts and trust our gut and God that he will raise the warning flags if things no longer line up.  

God, that is my prayer tonight. Give me a balance of appropriate self-protection with a heart steadfast in you that is confident enough that if I get hurt--- you are the ultimate healer and will not leave me.  

Lord, your will be done in this situation. I want to honor you with my life. Give me your strength and wisdom to lead with an authentic friendship love for this new guy that can only come from your strength. Help me to love him by cautiously guarding my heart from sharing too much too soon. Lord, please be the pace setter in this relationship and give me your vision for how a future relationship might fulfill your plans and ministry for my life.

Thanks for not making me be a spy, God. I trust you got your eye on things, so I can let this up to you as the professional:)

All my heart,

Audrey

Daily Divine Assignments

Oh Lord,

You truly know the depths of my heart.  Tonight, we were asked to attend C4 with our graduating seniors from student ministries. Now, I haven't been to C4 in years. There have been a lot of leadership changes, etc. but I stopped going because I felt like I had "aged out."  So tonight, if I'm totally honest, I was dragging my feet and going begrudgingly.

But what you said to me in the times of worship and delving into you word was, "I hear you, I see you, and I care."  God, today and this week really, I have just come face to face with my areas of weakness. Pride, jealousy, entitlement, insecurity, comparison....just a few of the things in my self-awareness.  No one ever really wants to be aware of their downfalls, let alone recognize that other people are probably keenly aware of them as they interact.  So sometimes, I feel like a failure or lose hope that these things in me will ever change. I worry that even if they were to change, would it be enough to change the perceptions others already have of me?  And this is when I fall to me knees.

Lord, I can't change these things about myself on my own. You and I both know that I have tried and tried in my own strength, and just become jaded to the realities of these things.  But God, tonight as Mark spoke, I was reminded of the Glory of you are. You ARE the good Sheperd. You come searching for me, because I am one of your sheep. You know these things about me and you still love me.

Lord, I need your help to have a vertical focus on you and life in light of eternity.  My vulnerability is took look around me and compare, and desire affirmation from others--rather than seeking your affirmation first and foremost.

God, you know there is one person at work right now who I have written a narrative in my head that, "she doesn't like me"..which has caused me to be standoffish and probably put off a vibe that I am not open or welcoming.  I wrestle with this narrative, because I don't know that she feels this way, but from our interactions--it's how I feel. I think about having dialogue, but I also know she has anxieties of her own and I don't want her to feel more uncomfortable by my direct conversation. I want to be humbled, Lord. I don't always celebrate others the way they deserve. I am quick to want credit for what I've done. I want to be "special" and "an expert', when I truly am a novice just doing the best I can.  Lord, this wrestle with pride and insecurity is without a doubt the thorn in my side. It causes me to doubt and lack self-confidence to engage the world in the way my heart wants to be able to engage. It does not allow me to empower those I work with and celebrate the strengths that they possess as well. I run my life from a framework of scarcity-- where there is not enough power, glory, recognition--and I must vie for my piece of things. But not only is it wrong--it's exhausting.

But I know that you are the God I serve. And my God is capable of transformation. I believe that you can still use someone as deeply flawed as me, because it's in my weakness that you are strong.  Lord, I pray that you would soften my heart to not only understand intellectually, but deeply that others can be great--and that doesn't take away from the my gifts. Lord, help me not to find my worth in what I do or what others say of me---but in what you say of me.  Help me to remember whose I am.

Tonight, I heard you challenge me with the question, "What is my divine assignment today?" Lord, I pray that you would give me your eyes to see that just because I think it, doesn't mean it's true. Lord give me discernment to know when it's time to have important conversations and when I need to initiate these conversations.  But Lord, I pray for the opportunity to intentionally respond in ways that reflect you and your glory.

Father God, I pray for a quiet confidence that doesn't need accolades, but rests in the understanding of who I am in Christ. Help me to be quick to acknowledge my mistakes and take responsibility. Allow me to not take offense when someone else takes the glory, and rest in knowing that I did my part. Help me to stay behind the scenes and to take risks to achieve the things you put in my heart. I pray in turn, others would be encouraged to have a quiet confidence of their own.

Love always,
Audrey

Father God,

It's been a long time since I've had the deep soul need to splatter my heart out in writing to try to make sense of things.
You are so good and you have allowed this winter season to be filled with so many new and exciting experiences, people, and opportunities.  As exciting as it all is, life just feels a little full right now. You know the kind of full where if you eat anymore, your button might pop off your shirt.

And here's the thing, it's all good stuff Lord.  But I know me and I know how you've wired me and sometimes if I'm not careful-- all the really good stuff becomes sludge bursting at the seams because there is just too much of it.

Thanks for tonight,for reminding me that you've got "this". You are in the nitty gritty details and you've given me tools to wade through the mess. My mess and the mess that I step into walking alongside others.

Thanks for the gift of exercise and the tool of putting my sneakers to the pavement (or treadmill) and working out the hard stuff that way.  Lord, thanks for giving me a bit of self-control today. Sometimes when I experience something that is uncomfortable or I'm not sure what to do with, my first inclination is to run to someone I trust and process it with them. That's not bad in and of itself, but when it involves others--I'm continuing to learn that taking it to you first is always best.

Lord--one of my clients "dumped" some stuff today in the session. Over the years, I've been pretty good about not picking up their garbage bags, but rather giving them the lift to put them on the landfill pile for good.  But for some reason today, the garbage just sat with me and it just sat rotting in the depths of my heart without escaping.

I know that there is probably some "counter transference" as we call it in counseling.  It's a good reminder for me, that just like my clients, I have my own stuff. Stuff that I've felt that I've dealt with and grieved and forgiven. But sometimes that stuff still pops back up.  I'm really grateful though that you brought it to my awareness in the session, and I became intentional about not responding out of my own experience or values-- but holding to the unconditional positive regard.

Lord, I want to believe that I love the sinner and don't judge others out of my own insecurities. But I still do sometimes. I just pray that my heart would continue to be scrubbed and refined to reflect you more.

Lord, there are also so many unexpected new relationship kinds of things popping up in life. And I am totally not always graceful in knowing how to handle things. Lord, give me your eyes to address others that ultimately reflects you.

This is my ultimate prayer--God, I pray that in my days and my life, when people look at me--all they can see is the goodness and glory of who you are. Lord, life looks really different than I have planned, but I celebrate the expectancy that this timeline will ultimately make your name great beyond what I could imagine. Lord, I want people to look at my life and say, "only by the grace of God" and "He truly is a faithful God."  The details of all that, I leave to you.

I feel lighter already, releasing it all to you. Thanks for being my one and only God.

You are good---always good.

Audrey

Contentment

Father God,

Twenty-nine has hit me hard. With 30 peaking around the corner next year, I have somehow inadvertantly allowed my unmet life timeline dictate my joy.  Lord, I pray for my future husband. I know he's out there and I refuse to give up hope. I know you are a faithful God. But protect me, Lord. Somehow I feel more vulnerable than ever before. Vulnerable to giving up hope that there is a perfectly imperfect man out there that I can serve with deep love.
Lord, I feel vulnerable to the temptation to just settle for something counterfit and less than your best. Protect me, Lord. Give me a strength I didn't know was within me to resist the counterfit.  Satan wants nothing more than for my hope to be dashed and my certainty in you to be jaded. But Lord, I just pray that you would surround me today and in the coming weeks.
Lord, give me your wisdom when something is worth continuing to pursue and wisdom when its perfectly okay to allow the door to close.

When the dreams or thoughts of past relationships slip into my mind; allow me to acknowledge them but let them keep on moving. Don't allow me to dwell on the things I cannot change, and help me to stay focused in the present.

Lord, you know I've been praying alongside friends who are also in a season of waiting with infertility.  Father, I beg you to burst forth in this situation and bring them the joy of a child. Father, I just pray that as you make the next steps of the journey so clear, that you would just let your glory shine all over their situation.  I don't understand it, Lord...but I cling to the facts I know to be true.

You are a loving God, and you have a higher view point than our finite view.
You are ferocious pursuer and you will not let any time be wasted on an opportunity to draw your children closer to you.

Lord, I have no idea what I'm doing with my future. But I know it's in your hands.  I just want to know your heart for my future, Lord.  I will take it one day at a time, but I just pray that you will continue to purify and chip away the chipped pieces of my heart.

Lord,
Thanks for listening to my heart when it feels just so many things.  Make yourself present to me Lord. Guide me and direct me, in the ways that only you can.  You are the greatest romantic out there...thanks for pursuing me always in just the ways I need pursued.

You are the best, God.

Audrey

Bushwacking Bitterness

Jesus,

What a week! This week, I've been plunged into the depths of self-awareness about the condition of my heart.  You see, there has been a bit of a stirring in my heart, causing a rumble of discontent that hovers deep in my belly.

I've discovered some underlying thoughts that have unknowingly taken root in my heart.

A Spirit of scarcity-  I've noticed that as co-workers grow and break out establishing new aspects to our program, I've experienced a deep tinge of bitterness when their parts flourish and mine seems to be struggling. It's as if I believe that there is not enough success to go around, as if their success will overshadow any of my future successes. What a lie, satan.  Lord, I long for a heart of abundance that genuinely and authentically celebrates the success and growth of others.  Lord, I need your help with this. This week, I'm going to work heart to intentionally overcoming my pity parties with genuine verbal encouragement of those moving our patients to greater wellness. God, I pray for a humble spirit that cheers on the success of others. At the same time, don't let me believe the lie that any of my successes are less valuable than others.  Lord, squelch my desire to be valuable and noticed by man and replace it with a deep awareness of my value in your sight regardless of my performance. God, I pray that you would use this challenging season---give it purpose and value in a way that will honor you. I trust that your ways are higher and you understand.

Lord,
This has been a really lonely week.  I'm probably not helping this much by staying in the house, online shopping and waiting for the day to be over so a new days can come tomorrow.

Father, in this season of loneliness, I pray that you would make my heart sensitive to others who may be feeling lonely.  Lord, I don't know what this looks like, but I ask that you would infuse and guide me with a spirit leading to seek those people out.  Lord, I still have no idea how to make this if table work without the table. I pray that if this is something you want me to pursue, you would make just the right table available.

Lord,
I dream of an if:table made of the most tarnished of barnwoods. I dream of a table that's been through the rough and tumble of life but is allowing itself to be made beautiful by it's purpose to serve.

God,
I celebrate the ability this week to pursue some joys of my heart.  Cooking new recipes, getting into an agenda of wellness with training for the half-marathon, laying awake at night with the lullaby of worship music singing me into my dreams, the morning commute with morning meditations starting my day with a posture of looking upward,  cutting fresh flowers from the garden, time to read books off my to read pile, time to write and dream with you.

All of these things---thank you! These all speak to you and who you are, the blessings you've given in the midst of the difficult.  Lord, I trust your plan. You are not witholding good from me. You are preserving me for your best for me.  Lord, I long to live a life of purpose.  When I die, my prayer is that when my life is talked about-- people would say, "Her life spoke of Jesus."  I'm far from that now, Lord, but I pray that I would continue to trust you.  These dreams I have, that I can hardly write on paper because they seem so silly and impossible--I give those to you today.  Lord--I'm willing to dream with you, if you can open up the doors.


With all my heart,

Audrey

Are you hurting and broken within
Overwhelmed by the weight of your sin
Jesus is calling
Have you come to the end of yourself
Do you thirst for a drink from the well
Jesus is calling

[Chorus:]
O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ

[Verse 2:]
Leave behind your regrets and mistakes
Come today there's no reason to wait
Jesus is calling
Bring your sorrows and trade them for joy
From the ashes a new life is born
Jesus is calling

[Chorus x2:]
O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ

[Bridge x2:]
Oh what a Savior
Isn't he wonderful
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen
Bow down before him
For he is Lord of all
Sing alleluia, Christ is risen

[Chorus x2:]
O come to the altar
The Father's arms are open wide
Forgiveness was bought with
The precious blood of Jesus Christ

[Verse 3:]
Bear your cross as you wait for the crown
Tell the world of the treasure you've found

God, these lyrics are on replay today. I'm entering this season of just longing for heart change.  Lord, I become so overwhelmed by my sin-- my selfishness, my pride, my jealousy, my bitterness.  This is not all of me, but I've been seeing these things popping up in my heart.

Lord, I want nothing less than for my character to mirror who you are.  God, I rejoice in the fact that these inner beasts have already been conquered by you on the cross. But I refuse to become complacent and let them lead me where I'd rather not go. God, in the year ahead, please strengthen me with renewed perspective and refine me to have a heart more like yours. You and I both know that I can't do that on my own. It's just not possible.

The last few weeks have just been so all over the place.  Lord, so many people around me are just struggling with so many aspects of life.  Lord, I don't know what to say all the time. I don't always know the best time to be silent and the best time to speak. Give me wisdom this week God.

I got an e-mail about possible career opportunities in Houston, Texas.  God, when I think about leaving my friends and family again for a place far away, my inner core is petrified.  But when I think about how much faith it would take and how much I would need you every second, I get a bit of excitement at the idea.  It's probably a long shot. But God, before I went to Rochester, you made it very clear that is where I am supposed to be.  Lord, I will only go if you make it very clear that I am supposed to be there.  Lord, I don't want to run somewhere new just for the thrill of something different and to get away from the mundane. But I also don't want to let the comfort of the mundane keep me from your best.

Anywho...I'm just going to rest in you this week, Jesus. Thanks for carrying all the tough stuff and future uncertainties for me.

You da' bomb!

Audrey

God,

I feel so much right now. I am a person who struggles with anxiety and depression.  I think that is the first time that I have allowed those words to be so starkly permanent on a page.  Throughout my life I've had these episodes every few years. They seem to strike most distinctly in the winter months after the whirlwind of Christmas subsides and can last for months.

The anxiety feels suffocating. My laid back and care free nature is replaced with a torment and daily assault of my peace of heart and contentment.  I can't ever truly place my finger on the origin.  It can be brought on by increased stress or seem out of the blue.  And often in these moments, my self-confidence shakes me to my very core. The tasks that once were effortless now seem overwhelming and insurmountable.  I celebrate the little things in these times. The fact that I completed the laundry, went to the grocery store, made a meal, got through my day.  It feels almost ridiculous to write, but when anxiety and depression loom, this is a reality.  And I know that I am not alone in this. I know many experience these episodes from time to time as well.  But there is something that makes me hide in these moments. When I feel on edge, when it feels as if some undefined catastrophic event looms in my future-- I don't want people to see me like this.  In my mind, I know that isolation does not help my situation, but the chance that people will replace their view of me based on this person I've become scares the living daylights out of me. I don't want this to be my character and how I am remembered.

But perhaps in this period, you are reminding me God that you know me. That you designed me for "such a time as this" and you love me deeply even in my weakness.  God, in the midst of this, I choose to believe that you are still Good. I choose to believe that out of the ashes you can create beauty.  I choose to believe that my story is far from done and this chapter is setting me up to love better than I have loved before.

God, when I feel this way I can become so self-focused.  This week-- can you give me eyes to see people...I mean to truly see and listen and care in a way that let's people know..I see you and I care?  God, I pray for stories to write about at the end of my week of the people you place on my path. Can you please bring people on my path this week who I can learn from?

God, can you give me new perspective this week? Help me to see opportunities rather than obstacles.
Lord, I pray for my neighbor. I don't know her background, or her story, but I pray that her heart would rest in the truth of your love for her.  God, I pray for this whole neighborhood. I don't know everyone or all that goes on behind everyone's doors, but I pray that you would be known in this neighborhood. I pray that miracles would happen in this neighborhood and people would be united in your name. God, help me to break out of my comfort zone.

Thanks for carrying my load Lord,

A

Fruit Tree Shake Down after the Storm

God,

It's been a fruit-tree-shake-down-after-the-storm kind of last few weeks for me. The two weeks prior to this week were the messy ugly storm.  I was thrown into the raw place of new leadership opportunities and felt as though I was being eaten alive by my novice, naive mind. In the storm, I wondered, am I really cut out for this?  Is this where, I'm supposed to be? But I hunkered down the hatches and kept moving; one painful, vulnerable, fearful step and experience after another.  As Glennon Melton says, " I just kept showing up trying to do the next right thing."

And you know what I found? Even sometimes when we feel something is the right thing, it will not always be the right thing for everyone. And that's okay.  This week, I learned that sometimes when I try so hard to create a safe environment for everyone by nipping gossip before it gets out of hand, without realizing it I had unintentionally shamed and isolated the person who had started it.  So in creating a safe environment for many, I unintentionally made it unsafe for one. Is that good or bad? I don't know there is an answer to that. What I do know is that I am learning. I am soaking in my blunders to learn how to love and lead better.
God, thanks for preparing me over the last years to lean into the hurtful, painful, or vulnerable moments in life and grow from them. Thanks for people I do and don't personally know who have influenced the way I think about the world. While I may never influence millions of people, its my prayer that I would use the small sphere of influence I do have to encourage and promote growth and self-reflection in others.

So this week was the fruit shake down after the storm. Prior to a storm, we hardly notice the fruit and goodness tucked in the branches of a tree.  However, after a storm, the fruit comes down and we start to collect it and enjoy it and celebrate it...but most importantly....we share it.  So this week, I've been reflecting over the storm. I've been processing the growth and wisdom that I'm gaining as a result of these storms. I feel rejuvenated and hopeful that the next time the storm comes (as it always does), I will have the peace of mind of knowing that fruit is always easier to access once we get through the storm. And I can always anticipate that there is never a storm in which you are not by my side helping to guide me to find the fruit that needs collected and shared.

God, thanks for wise people who have followed you in sharing their fruit with others. The last few weeks the words of Brene Brown, Glennon Melton, and Bob Goff have brought perspective in my life. Thanks for the ways you are using their influence to encourage me and so many others to take steps of faith and to learn more about ourselves in the process.

God, I don't have a huge sphere of influence but I do have a small one. Can you help me be an influencer who inspires others to be the best version of themselves within whatever sphere of influence I am in? My dream is that I always role model what I believe in my deepest core;

- WORDS matter. What a crazy, amazing responsibility we have as humans!!! How we speak about someone, is just as important as what we say to them.  When we speak unkindly about someone, we are really just telling the world that we are insecure about our own junk--so we have to escape by highlighting someone elses. But what if we owned our own junk and spoke truthfully and vulnerably about our own stuff. So if someone is bugging us because they aren't changing in the way we would like...what if instead of saying, "He just doesn't care"...I said..." I'm feeling frustrated because I am trying to take responsibility for someone else's life change and it isn't working. Maybe it's never really been my responsibility anyway?
Isn't that the real issue?  I feel like before we can begin to throw stones at anyone else, we have to first take an introspective dive into the deep well of our own hearts. The place where our true hurt, pain, anger, and fear live. Let's get real about that.
The way we speak about others has so much power to change and influence the ways others view themselves and others. If we treat people as hopeless and not capable of change--that's how they will view themselves and that's the fruit they will bear.  But I've seen time and time again through the work we do at Care Connections, that when we treat people as people who have a story worth telling--they rise to the occasion.  If we speak words of self-hatred or self-condemnation through our thoughts, we live out lives that downplay the gifts of how we are uniquely and intricately wired. As a youth leader, one of the girls in my group was pretty quiet the first few weeks. I decided to have a conversation with her. What I said to her was, "I've noticed you've really been listening intently to others in group...which I love about you. But I'm kind of grieving a bit. I think you have a lot to share, and when you don't...we miss out on the gift of knowing you." It was incredible how the next week, she opened up for the first time in group and wow'd us all with amazing, mature, wisdom.

--EVEN more, PEOPLE MATTER.
I love my job because I get to take on the role of a learner everyday. I get to meet amazing people who have lives that are filled with struggle, resilience, and hope.  The universal theme that I've seen most transformational, is that people just want to know that their life matters. That their life has purpose and meaning.  I am an eager student of the theories of Viktor Frankl. He talks about man's deepest desire is for meaning, and while I'm still relatively young in my career, I have found incredible truth in that truth.

- Generally speaking, ASSUME THE BEST.
I find that I'm at my best when I'm assuming the best about others. Brene Brown talks about assuming that everyone is just doing the best they can.  I would hope that's the graceful approach others would have towards me, so I will choose to treat other people that way first.

- "I'd rather choose to practice my values, than simply professing them." I have never met Brene Brown, but when I read her books and her ideas, I imagine her as a kindred spirit. When I hear what she says, it resonates somewhere deep where I internally say, "Yes! Yes! You get it...you get me."  I've spent a lot of my life feeling misunderstood because of how I view people and the world. But this woman, she gets it.  So I may never meet her, but I have been deeply influenced by her. God---can you make me that type of person?  The type of person that lives out what she believes and speaks to be true.


Lord-- I have no idea what the future holds for me. But I do know, 5 years ago I would have never imagined that I was even capable of living the adventure you have me on now. If this is all you have for me, I'm thankful to continue on. If you continue to have other things, lead me.  So, as I approach my 28th year in 21 days...I pray that my future adventures would allow me to lead in a way that models the truths above that I so desperately believe with all my heart.


You're the best God.  Thanks for choosing a divine nobody like me to shape and mold everyday.

In awe of you,

Audrey

The Next Chapter

God,

Last night, I said a final farewell ton 320 N Lime Street.  While there were several confirmations in the last weeks that it is time to move on, I had sentimental moments. The last 4 years, that apartment has harbored my fears, anxieties, joys, and triumphs. It has housed love and friendship and heart breaks and disappointment.  But I trust that this new home, will have a host of memories to be remembered as well.  God, thank you for the time on Lime Street. In the seasons I've lived there, I've learned so much about the community, the people I serve daily, but most importantly myself.  You have taught me that I am braver than I believe. You have taught me that wherever I am, there you too will be.  And you've taught me that light beats out darkness every time.

So it is my prayer, that this new home would be a respite for many. Not only for the hearts who reside here, but also for all who enter through the doors. God, I pray that I would not take this gift of a home for granted.  Open my eyes to the opportunities to serve through this gift you've given.  Push me to take this new chapter and allow you to write something far better than I can know.  Lord, with great gifts come great responsibility. Lord, I need you to help me use this gift well.

Lord, yesterday at church the pastor spoke of grace for others but also for our own self condemnation. God, I'm much better at the other grace than I am the self grace.  God, I accept your gift that I no longer have to live in regret of my sins, but get up and walk towards your free gift of grace.

Lord,  can you help my step forward into the next year with a posture of gratitude? I can let myself drown in anticipation of what could be or I can live in the moment now and just choose to follow for the next minute, day, hour.. etc.  And I choose the later.

I will lean on Isaiah 57:10-- You were wearied with the length of your way but you did not say, "It is hopeless": You found new life for your strength and so you were not faint.

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." 
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Amen!

God,

I am blessed. Thanks for using the book of Hosea to speak into my insecurities. God, I want to be different. I want to know you intimately.  And I want to love and see people the way that you do. Through Hosea, you are reminding me that I first have to be able to see myself as you see me, as Chosen and Beloved.  All too often, I talk to you...but I forget to stop and listen, to allow you the time to respond.

The other day, a friend was talking about taking a personality test. I was reminded of the days as a camp counselor, we were asked to complete one ourselves. ENFJ/INFJ.  I am the oddball type. I am exactly on the line of extrovert/introvert so dont clearly fit in either--I'm a bit of both. Since I've been on call this week, I've had loads of extra time just to think and research and dream with my work phone by my side. So I decided to review what these personality characteristics mean. And you know, I am blown away at how accurate they are.  God, every personality has strengths and weaknesses for sure and while all ENFJ/INFJ's are not the same-- reviewing the description reminded me that you have purposefully and specifically designed me to be the person I am for a reason.  God, thanks for this reminder that who I am is not wrong or right or out in left field....I am perfectly who you want me to be.  God, I give you any shame, doubt, insecurity about myself and lay it before you. God, just like the trees don't doubt that you will bring their leaves back again as they are deeply rooted in you---I hold onto that same confidence---that this dessert is not forever. This season can and will be beautiful. It is necessary to appreciate the other seasons just that much more because I have gone through it.

Lord,
In my work, I often have to diagnosis patients with a label.  But at the end of the day--it is just a label---but it is not WHO the person is. It cannot fully capture the entirety of the persons strengths and weakness, likes and dislikes. It merely tells the insurance company that there is humanness in this person--there is struggle and there is strife---but it does not define their personhood. God--this week--can you help me to see the person- the God-designed characteristics innate in EVERY person. Give me your eyes to see.

Amen