What Are You Craving?

Don't tell my oldest son, but the reason we can never keep peanut butter in the house for very long is because of a mysterious event...

At random times throughout the day, my tummy starts rumbling.  It's like it literally starts talking to me.  Peanut butter. First as a whisper, one I try to ignore.  Then it becomes a roar.  PEANUT BUTTER!!!! 

I can't help it.  I MUST respond to the craving.  I sneak a spoon out of the drawer, quietly open the cupboard, pull out the peanut-buttery goodness, slip off the lid, and enjoy a few quiet moments of indulgence.  It's just me and the peanut butter.  Seriously.  It's the simple things in life, I tell you.  

The other day, while enjoying my peanut butter in peace, I looked out the window at the beauty that is my backyard and heard that whisper.  

What if you craved Me as much as you crave peanut butter?  What are you craving more of?

Dang it!  I'd been caught!

John, 6:35 says, "Jesus replied, 'I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.  Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."

Lord, you just HAD to go there, didn't you?


I can honestly say that I AM craving more of Jesus, and I desperately want to know and understand Him more, but if I really am being honest here, then I have to admit that there are times I walk away from praying and reading my Bible for fear of becoming, "That crazy Christian Jesus Freak lady who no one wants to talk to."

What are you craving more of?


It's a question worth looking into.

Would I really rather indulge my cravings than be fed by the One who will ensure that I never go hungry again?

Would I really rather risk my strong walk with God in favor of a few moments of human indulgence?

What would YOU rather do?

I guess this is where being humble comes in.  I'd like to think that I read my Bible a lot (every morning when I start my day, every evening before I go to sleep, sometimes scattered throughout the day....well, that if all goes according to MY plan and I have the time to in between being wife and mom).  I'd like to think that I pray a lot, too.  I have conversations with Him all throughout the day.  And that, my friends, is where I see the problem lies.

What are you craving more of?


Dang!

Did you see that schedule of the good little Christian girl up there?  Whose time table is that on?  Certainly not God's.  I'm guilty, so guilty of trying to fit God into the moments that I want Him to.

He wants ALL of me.  Not just the moments I'm willing to "sacrifice."

I crave more.  More time with Him when HE wants me to.  You know what that means?  More time on my knees (even if my children and husband are watching).  More time in my Bible (especially when my regular teaching gig starts back up in August).  More time honestly, heart-wrenchingly praying (even when my crazy-controlling-self KNOWS there is other work to be done).

More.  I crave MORE.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.  Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!  Fear the Lord, you his godly people, for those who fear him will have all they need.  Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing." - Psalm 34:6-10

If I would just die to myself...my time...everything that I'm craving really WOULD be fulfilled.  Not on my time, but on God's time.

So, the next time I feel my tummy rumble and literally SPEAK to me that I need peanut butter, I'm going to CHOOSE to think about God instead.  And I'm going to CHOOSE to let Him fulfill me.

What are YOU craving more?


I hope you'll think about that today.  And when you're ready to, I hope you'll join me in seeking Jesus instead of anything else.  I bet you'll find yourself a heck of a lot more fulfilled through Him than through anything else you have been filling yourself up.  Who cares if you really ARE that Crazy Christian Jesus Freak lady?  You certainly won't be alone, cause I'll be right there beside you!

Until the next whisper,

Em

The True Beauty of Brownies

"Stir sloooowly."

Those words repeatedly came out of my mouth this evening while I was cooking with my oldest boy.

"Mom," he said, "I've got it.  I know what to do."

And then, of course, while I was working on getting dinner in the oven, the brownie batter went a-flyin'.

The controlling woman in me could have easily gotten upset, but God was whispering to me during this joint cooking experience, and I kept my cool.

You see, there are two kinds of cooks in this world.  The one, like me, who cleans up along the way so as not to have one huge mess at the end of the project to clean and there's the one, like my husband, who waits till the last. possible. second. to clean up everything all at once.  It's labor intensive.  It's messy.  And it most definitely is not my way of doing things.

My son is preferring my husband's way of doing things, so we naturally butt heads a bit whenever he's in the kitchen with me.

Tonight, though, those brownies were his absolute pride and joy, so I just went with whatever he wanted to do.  We got messy.  We worked hard.  And now I have a plate full of completely delectable, warm and gooey Ghiradelli brownies to have for dessert.

Isn't that how our walks with God are?

Follow me here...

When we look at other Christian women, we see only the outside - the completed, delectable, mess-free, warm and gooey goodness.  We don't realize the sheer work (and absolute mess) it took to get to where they are.  We look at them and see all the things we desperately want to have...strong faith, complete trust, free-flowing Bible verses, true inner beauty, hands lifted in real worship, etc.  But, ladies, wow.  What if we took the time to ask them just how in the world they were able to make it all happen?

I'm sure we'd learn that some of the very women we look up to are those wait-till-the-absolute-minute-to-clean-it-all-up kind of women.  Just like my husband (and maybe you) when it comes to cooking, they're the women who could literally be falling apart at home, but they have that magical ability to pull it all together before they get outside the walls of their house and look, well, just awesome from the inside out.

I'm sure we'd also learn that there are women out there like me (and maybe like you) who clean up their messes along the way.  You'd never know that they were facing any sort of spiritual challenge or even having a bad day because they live by the motto of, "It'll all be okay."  They may be smiling through their tears as they're wiping up the little messes along the way, but they repeatedly smile through it all and TRUST that it really will all be okay.

Nope.  We don't see all that.  The mess.  The hard work.  The tears. The brownie batter a-flyin'.  All we see is the perfectly delectable, warm, gooey goodness.

So the next time when you're looking at another Christian sister and thinking that she has it all so perfectly together.  Remember the true beauty of brownies, and ask her how she's able to keep it all together.  And maybe, just maybe, offer her a brownie...and smile.

Until the next whisper,

Em

A Little Place Called Restoration

Do you ever have those moments when your trash can just stinks?  And I mean the kind of stink that's so bad you catch yourself gagging?

I had one of those moments this morning.  Now, I try to rely on my husband to take the trash out without my direction, but you know what?  Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way.  So this morning when I walked out to the garage, I was just hit with this wave of straight up STANK!  Truly, it was that bad.

I bundled up the trash bag and recognized the culprit...the leftover shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn from Saturday night's Low Country Boil.  The wave of regret hit me just as bad as the stAnk did.


Why didn't I just ask my husband to take the trash out that night?  Heck!  Why didn't I just take it out myself since I'm the one who threw all that mess in there in the first place?

I caught myself laughing as I walked outside to throw my stinky white Glad bag in the over-sized green bin.

The times God chooses to whisper to me just amaze me sometimes.  Today was one of those times as He whispered right when I threw the trash in and heard the lid slam shut.

Aren't you glad my love is like that?  Aren't you glad I can look at you through all the stink and the muck and still love you?  Aren't you glad that you can turn it all over to me and I can restore you with my love and close the lid on the rest of it?  


Yes, God.  I am so SO glad.


Saturday was a perfect example of that amazing love, and it was the whole reason for the stinky mess left behind in my trash bag.  Our son was baptized at our pastor's house and so was an old friend, so we chose to celebrate their brand new walks with Christ by cooking up a classic Southern Low Country Boil.  Yum!

Even though my trash was what brought back the great memories of that day, I'm thankful that it did because it gave me the chance to thank God for the amazing journey He's placed our family on during our last year or shore duty.

A little place called Restoration has been exactly what we've needed...Restoration Church, that is.  That church has been the place where I've really felt God's awesome restoring love as it shut the lid on the stinky parts of my soul and allowed me to start fresh.  It's also been the place that's redeemed a broken friendship and restored it to what it was (actually BETTER than it was).

Acts 3:19-21 says, "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may sent the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago."

Just like I have to take my trash out again and again (even if it means gagging a little bit), we must turn to God again and again and allow His awesome love to restore us.

If you don't have a church that's restoring your faith, your family, and your relationships, I pray that you'll seek one with your whole heart.  They're hard to find, but the perfect church is certainly out there somewhere for you.  If you're in the process of searching for one, keep searching.  If you're at a church where you aren't being constantly restored, I pray that you'll seek God's direction and guidance to lead you to the place you're supposed to be.

Thank you, Lord, for stAnk trash and how it reminds me of your awesome restoring and redeeming love.  Thank you for churches that help us to restore ourselves in you.

Until the next whisper,

Em

 

Confessions of a Prayer Warrior

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. - James 5:16

Do you have someone you always go to for prayer?  You know who I'm talking about.  The person you can spill out your prayer requests to and just KNOW that he or she is actually going to pray for you?

I like to call these people "Prayer Warriors," and the truth is that these people are very few and far between.  They're the ones who are upfront and honest about prayer.  If they're really going to pray for you, they'll let you know.  If they don't feel led to pray for you, they'll respond by saying, "You'll be in my thoughts," or "I'll be thinking of you."  And whatever they tell you, you can rest assured that it's the truth.

How do I know this about Prayer Warriors?  Because I consider myself to be one.

Praying for others is a job I don't take lightly, but I have to admit that it can be a bit overwhelming.  At this point in time, I'm a prayer warrior at my church.  We're a working church, so we do a lot of community outreach and we ask for prayer requests wherever we go.  The slips of paper that people write their petitions on always end up in my hands, and I commit to praying for them as much as possible.

Today, though, I found myself carrying home another bundle of prayer requests, this time from my fellow church members.  I honestly wanted to cry, but I committed myself to having a private conversation with God as my husband drove home.

Me:  God, I'm not sure how to handle all this.  I know I'm supposed to pray for these people, but I feel so overwhelmed and unqualified.  How do I do these prayers justice here on earth when I know that You already know these people's hearts?


God:  You write them down and then write down what comes to mind after you've prayed for each one.


Hmm.  That seems simple enough, and it takes care of the major issue I was having with all these prayer requests:  actually feeling like I was doing each request justice by praying for it individually rather than lumping it together with others.

After taking care of my usual Sunday afternoon prayers, I sat down on my bed with a notebook, tape, pen, and the pile of requests.  Each request got taped down to its own sheet of paper and I began praying for each one during the process.  Once I had them all placed in the notebook, I started praying over each one and waiting to hear from God.

Wow.  I felt like I got something that I was desperately needing:  clarity.  I don't know the majority of the people I'm praying for, so I start feeling like I can't adequately pray for them.  The answers came so randomly, but I started scrawling words down on paper, never questioning what it was all supposed to mean...because God knows.

If you're a Prayer Warrior like me, I sincerely pray that God gives you the stamina, strength, and endurance to continue on with this journey.  If you're not a Prayer Warrior, but you still have a heart to pray for others, take time out today to ask that person you always take your requests to (your Prayer Warrior) how you can pray for him or her.  Chances are you'll get one word requests like "peace" or "strength," but chances are that those things are exactly what that Prayer Warrior needs.  And if he or she does give you something to pray for, don't take it lightly!  We don't share our requests with others very often.

Until the next whisper,

Emily

A Cause for Celebration

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. - Psalm 118:24

This past Tuesday, we were celebrating around our house.  My husband reached a major milestone in his career with the Navy - 15 years served - and my oldest son finally got his first loose tooth.  I'm sure it's pretty obvious what the biggest cause of celebration was, but the loose tooth was certainly special in its own right.

I found myself thinking of all my husband's achieved throughout his career during the day, and I realized just how much we've celebrated his accomplishments over the last 15 years.  Advancements in rank, medals and ribbons received, homecomings from long deployments, graduations, and so much more.  And then, like so many other military wives I know, I started to compare my moments of celebration to his.  Well, the list was pretty short.

You see, military wives have a habit of falling into the same trap that I found myself in on Tuesday.  We try to compare our achievements with our husbands' in an attempt to some how measure up to them.  There's no doubt that for most of us, what we've been able to accomplish during their time serving pales in comparison.  Or does it?

Certainly, being a military wife means that our lives pretty much revolve around what our husbands are doing.  We move.  We cry.  We write countless letters and emails.  We move again.  We pack care packages.  We check the days off our calendars. We wait for phone calls.  We welcome them home.  We cry some more.  We make new friends.  We move again.  We cry.  We smile through the tears.  And we do it all, over and over again.

I found myself thinking, Gees.  The last 15 years have really just been about him.  I wonder when I'll get to have some great moments of my own?  Then, the words of Psalm 118:24 began ringing in my ears.

I couldn't help but realize what God was trying to show me.  I have moments to rejoice in each and every day.  And for my fellow military wives, so do you.

No matter how much I may feel that life revolves around my husband's career, I'm doing some pretty great things that should be celebrated too.  Those moves I mentioned earlier?  I planned them AND made sure our house was ready to be packed up.  Those letters and emails? I spent countless hours preparing them and I KNOW my husband found joy in reading them.  Those care packages?  I found some creativity deep down in me and made each package a theme.  He told me he looked forward to seeing what'd I'd come up with next.  Those phone calls I waited for?  I didn't wait for them at home.  I kept living my life even with a cell phone by my side.  Those new friends?  I enjoyed spending time with them, and they brought me so much happiness.  Those tears?  They didn't show my weakness; they showed my strength.

But I've got more to celebrate than that.  I've become a GOOD mom.  I wake up early every morning and get my day started - no pajama days for this girl!  I've made a strong name for myself in my teaching career.  I make a mean pot of gumbo.  I know how to get my youngest son to stop crying.  I've taught my oldest son about God's amazing love.  I am strong.  All those things?  All those wonderful things?  I need to celebrate them more often.

Like the verse from the Psalm says, "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

I challenge you to rejoice today, friends.  Find those things you're accomplishing, no matter how small they may be, and celebrate your victories.  And then, when your husband gets home, thank him for standing by YOUR side.  You are the amazing woman you are today because of him AND his crazy career.

Cheers to that!

Until the next whisper,
Emily

Faith Whispers

It's been awhile since I've written in this manner.  Too many times I've gotten caught up with my daily tasks.  Work.  Family.  Maintaining friendships.  Keeping a house running.  You know how it goes.

I left this my writing on this blog a year ago.  I had originally titled it "The Woman Who Prayed" because I thought that's what my focus needed to be...prayers.  I had so many ideas for things to write that I could barely keep up with my own thoughts.  I got overwhelmed with it all, and when I went back to work in August of last year, I chose to walk away from my writing.

I've felt the urge to write again for awhile now, but finding the time to do so is always hard.  Then I get caught in the all too familiar worry.  What if no one reads this?  Better yet.  What if no one LIKES this?


I chose to rename this blog "Faith Whispers" because it's where God led me.  It doesn't matter if no one reads my words.  It doesn't matter if I don't get a single compliment or comment.  What matters is that I listen to God's whispers and write when He tells me to about the things He wants me to.

So that's how "Faith Whispers" came about.  As you can see, I chose to leave up the writing I'd done previously because, well, writing is a journey, and the journey I was on last year has led me to this one.

If you're choosing to follow me on this journey, I would hope that you'd grant me patience.  I'm not quite sure where God is leading me with all of this, but when He whispered that I needed to get back to writing, I listened.  I hope this time I'll choose to continue listening to His whispers that way you'll have words to read!

Until the next whisper,
Emily

And Then Came the Rain

Jeremiah 17:7-8 - Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.  It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.  It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Looking out my living room window, I see a parched land.  Grass that is losing its rich green color due to lack of moisture and flowers in shades of red and pink withering in the heat. While looking out my window, though, I see myself.  I am parched.  I am withering.  I am thirsty.

It's not that I am alone in a desert with no family or friends and no feeling of God's presence.  Quite the opposite, really.  It's just that I am looking for more of God to quench my thirst.  I crave more of His direction and more of His purpose for my life.  

Regardless of where I am at, though, I still feel God's presence with me and hear His voice.  He says, "Stay.  Stay right where you are at and keep searching for Me.  When you look for Me with your whole heart, you will find Me.  Until the time has come, stay."

God places us in times of drought to learn from Him.  When we are thirsty and craving relief from the heat, He reminds us that we can only find respite in Him.  But in order for us to find that relief, we must stay.  

When it finally began to rain, I knew God was speaking to me.  

"Here is a taste of the nourishment you've been looking for."

I was a thirsty woman that afternoon, and I still am as I write weeks later.  I can say with all certainty, though, that God has placed me in this season of drought for a reason.  I must learn to trust Him...to rely on Him...to wait for Him..to look to Him to quench my thirst alone.