Learning about God through things I have lost

This week has been the week of me losing things...lets just say I have lost 3-4 things this week and it is very frustrating and the week is not over yet :(  and next week I am going to go to a corn maze and get lost there.  I don't know about you but I get upset about not finding something when I have lost it, but if I do find it I tell everybody the great news! 

Then I read Luke 15: 8 - 10

"Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!' In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

I remember these stories of the lost sheep, lost coin, and Prodigal Son as a kid and even the Leaving Ninety-Nine Song by Audio Adrenaline.  The point that God cares for the lost and rejoices when one comes to back to Him and repents.  But I never took time to look at the other point from this passage.  I do not know anyone that does not spend time looking for things that got lost.  I always retrace my steps after I freak out.  I will destroy my room just to find the missing item.  In this passage the woman does the same thing...she does everything she can to find the lost coin.

That is God in our life.  God is pulling at hearts to bring them back to Him, but just like socks sometimes people are too stubborn to be found and to give God their hearts.  At Blowout at Oyate Concern this week we read this verse and I think it fits well with the previous passage.

Revelation 3: 20

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."

God is knocking at our hearts, God is doing everything He can to find the lost, but it is our job to open the door and/or ask God for opportunities to talk to people we know about Him.  Are you being a stubborn lost coin or a person who does not look for lost things.  If so you need to go to God and change your view point.

Also how awesome are parties in Heaven over someone who was lost is now found?  Nothing I can probably imagine :)

P.S. if you find a yellow notebook, a furby, a check, my favorite pen, a hacky sack, Oceans 13, or anything else I lost/lose this week I would like it back :)

Seeing God through Mugs

I LOVE TO COLLECT MUGS!!!  Not so much cool looking mugs, even though I do like collecting those at thrift stores, but mugs to represent times of my life.  I can look at one of my mugs and a memory comes to mind.  Some mugs represent places God has taken me (mission trips, vacations, jobs) and others tell me about a time of pain or joy.  I finally got a chance to unpack my mugs and give them a home at my new apartment and it was pretty cool to go through those memories with God and thank Him for all that He has helped me through.

It reminds me of Joshua 4: 1 - 9

When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,  and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”

So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood. And they are there to this day.

I underlined my favorite part of it.  When your children ask you, "What do these stones mean?"  Wow what a great way to minister to your kids or grandchildren about what God has done in your life.  When someone looks at my mug collection they might ask, "Why do you have so many mugs?"  I usually respond, "Because it is a useful collection, but they each hold a memory of some cool event in my life."  I never thought about how I can share the Gospel with my mugs, but now I do because in each of those memories God was working.  

It doesn't have to be an object like the stones or a collection either to have an opportunity to share the Gospel.  When I worked at a camp in Texas I got asked a lot about where I was from, since I didn't sound like a Texan.  When I would say Ohio they would ask me, "How did you get here?" That was an opportunity for me to share how God worked through me and got me to work there.

So what in your life can point others to ask you about God?  Are they stones you set up, is it the thing that makes you different from those around you, is it a certain action you do, is it your kindness?  Think about how you can show God's work in your life this week.  

Learning about God through a Dare

So the series I am teaching in youth group is called Truth and Dare.  We examine the truth in a subject and then at the end I dare them to do it.  Now the dares have not been the easiest dares, but they have taught me a lot.  The first week's dare was to pray every time you needed to make a decision, then it was 1 4 1, which is one hour in media is one hour with God, and this week's dare is to Be Content.  

Each one of these dares have challenged me to look at the life I am living and helping me take the next step in living life for God.  So I just want to share some cool things I have learned.

God's Decisions was a dare that showed me that I too much decide things and then ask God to bless my decisions.  It is a funny way to think about it...we should be asking God what to do in everything.  On my day off I asked God what He wanted me to do...all I got back was text your friend.  It was weird but I did and found out my friend had the same day off and then we went Geocaching.  It was fun just to get away and do something that I love.  Plus explore a different part of the blackhills :)  God loves us and wants the best for us...so why not ask Him what you should do instead of asking Him to bless your decisions.

1 4 1 dare showed me that I really need to pay more attention how I use my time.  I found that I didn't have enough time in the day to pay 1 hour of media with 1 hour of God.  I saw that when I was tired or just needed a break I went to media for it instead of God.  It opened my eyes to how much we rely on media to fulfill our needs instead of God.  

Then this week is to Be Content...do not buy anything new, no going out to eat, no going to paid entertainment.  Instead when we feel the urge to buy something new take that time to praise God for what we do have.   This is going to be a hard one for me...there are days that I want to go out to eat because you know...I am tired and want something really good.  That is going to rock my world and teach me a little bit of how to be content with what I have.   So I will be cooking a lot this week and it will be a week full of praise and trusting in God's provisions.  

So I dare you to try one of these dares this week.  Choose the dare that would be the hardest for you instead of one that would be easy.  Then see how different life could be.