"...but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." Psalm 34:10b

Oh man. I have been extremely convicted lately about my attitude. I've also been completely overwhelmed by the goodness of God. It's amazing to me how interconnected these two things are. I haven't been overly negative or cynical or mean spirited or had a rotten disposition, but I have been anxious. That's disobedience. In Philippians Paul writes:

"do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Phil. 4:6)

We hear this part of Paul's letter to the Philippians quoted often. It's valuable. But it's not the only valuable information in Philippians 4. The verses around it say this:

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:4-7)

Y'all, this is pretty much the instruction manual for living every day in relationship with Jesus.

1. "Rejoice in the Lord always."...no matter the circumstance. Always. Paul says it twice, so he must mean it.



2. "Let your reasonableness be known to everyone."...don't be ridiculous. Avoid unecessary drama. Flee from foolishness.



3. "The Lord is at hand"...God is here. For that reason...



4. "do not be anxious about anything"...why? Because God is here.



5. "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."...God doesn't have to wait for us to tell him what's going on. He already knows. This is for our benefit. So our minds will be aligned with the mind of God. Prayer puts us in conversation with Him. We speak but, more importantly, we also listen. Supplication means 'a humble entreaty or petition.' Through supplication, we are spilling our guts to God. Again, not because He doesn't already know, but sometimes it helps to just talk it out or write it out. Then, we're able to see what we're asking for. We see our desires and hopes and dreams. We can evaluate through scripture and the guiding of the Holy Spirit to see if they match up with God's will and His word. This also allows us to really give it over to God. It's easy to say we've given up control when we haven't really laid it all out. Talking to God about it allows us to be specific. Paul also says 'with thanksgiving'...so not only are we giving it all over to God, we're also thanking Him for what He's going to do in that situation. Before it happens. Why? Because that is what trust looks like. We are told time and time again in the Bible that God works for our good. Don't you believe that? I do. But I don't always act like it. By praying with thanksgiving, I'm further giving up control and saying "God, whatever you do in this situation, I know it will be Your will and for Your glory, so I'm thanking You in advance no matter the outcome."



6. "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."...if you do all of the things above, God's peace will fill your life. Proverbs tells us to guard our hearts above everything else. 2 Corinthians tells us to take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. Philippians is telling us that if we trust God completely, then He will do that for us! His peace will guard our hearts and our minds. Then we can rest.

Rest has been an ongoing theme in my life these days. Resting is not something that comes naturally to me. I'm not good at quiet. I'm not good at still. I'm good at busy. God wants me to rest in Him and in who He is. Part of resting in Him is trusting Him completely and then being content. I'm so quick to try and fix things myself instead of "letting go and letting God". When I give it to Him, that's it! I don't need to take it back. I laid it down because He can handle everything and I can handle nothing. When I pick it right back up, I'm saying that I don't really trust God to handle whatever it is that I'm dealing with. How foolish is that?! He's God! He can handle it and He does not need my help. He just needs my obedience. Charles Spurgeon said:

"Be wise and attend to the obeying, and let Christ manage the providing."

I can either be obedient and get to be a part of what God is doing, or I can be stubborn and in the way. God will still move. God will still work. God will still prevail. He does not need me. But He does delight in me and wants to use me for His glory. I love that moments of rest are written into the Psalms. I love the Psalms in general, but I particularly love the Selahs. Psalm 46 says this:

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah" (Psalm 46:1-3)

Simple, right? God is here. God is God. THEREFORE we will not fear. Even if everything collapses around us, God is here. Selah. Rest. Psalm 46 goes on to say:

"The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah" Psalm 46:6-11

God is here. So just rest. Be still. Trust. Give it up and don't try to take it back. Selah.

Earlier, I was reading Spurgeon's 'Meditation for this Morning', and I was once again in awe of the perfect sovereignty of my God. I'll leave you with Spurgeon's words today:

"To Him be glory both now and for ever." Will you not this day make it your prayer? "Lord, help me to glorify Thee; I am poor, help me to glorify Thee by contentment; I am sick, help me to give Thee honour by patience; I have talents, help me to extol Thee by spending them for Thee; I have time, Lord, help me to redeem it, that I may serve thee; I have a heart to feel, Lord, let that heart feel no love but Thine, and glow with no flame but affection for Thee; I have a head to think, Lord, help me to think of Thee and for Thee; Thou hast put me in this world for something, Lord, show me what that is, and help me to work out my life-purpose: I cannot do much, but as the widow put in her two mites, which were all her living, so, Lord, I cast my time and eternity too into Thy treasury; I am all Thine; take me, and enable me to glorify Thee now, in all that I say, in all that I do, and with all that I have."

Gratefulness Project--Part 2

I'm back from New York City with a billion pictures to edit and post. Okay. Not a billion. It's probably closer to 400. Slight exaggeration...I'll put a couple throughout "the list".

My last portion led up to December, so I'll start this one with December 1st:

December 1: soup from Panera, a learning curve, familiarity, the unexpected

December 2: my commute, sparkling water, legs that work, the 9/11 Memorial

The "survivor tree"...it lived through the attacks.

December 3: Christmas decorations, new experiences, green-ness, jazz

At St. John's School

Lunch in Chinatown

Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola

December 4: sleeping in, a pumpernickle bagel with sun dried tomato cream cheese,
Biblical teaching, natural light

December 5: a friendly bus driver, having time, Smoothie King, my bed
December 6: Chick-fil-A, the staff at North Metro, breathing, sweaters
December 7: Garden Vegetable and Pesto soup (Panera), Cranberry Bliss Bar samples from Starbucks, being on time, fleeting sunlight, IMB Missionaries, water

Gratefulness Project--First Installment

DON'T FRET! I AM STILL HERE!

I bet all of you (all 2 of you...) thought I had forgotten about my new project. Well, let me assure you, I have not! I actually love it. And I've had the chance to talk to a few people about it too. If you know me on a personal level at all, you know I love to talk. ;) So anyway, I have been wary of posting my daily lists on Twitter for fear of sounding just like everyone else in this holiday season. That's selfishness talking right there because I need to draw attention to the goodness of God whenever I can, so I'll try to be better about that.

If you remember, I started this the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I was preparing to head back to Tennessee for the 3rd time this month, and though it is not a difficult trip, 3 trips of any kind within one month can be taxing. So I wanted to direct my attention to the positive when it could be so easy to dwell on the negative. I say this to in no way "toot my own horn" because I can guarantee that I am still a selfish (which you've already seen evidence of...), ungrateful, broken human. But I want to be different. So I'm changing something.

Here's my list in its simplest form:

November 22:

reminders, leftovers, cardigans, Heather Pierce

November 23:

ability, hot water, Emmett (my car), time zones

November 24:

old friends, new friends, sweet potatoes

November 25:

Erin Morris (soon to be Mrs. Kyle Grasham), plans, cameras, Egg Nog

November 26:

sweatpants, kittens, college football, my mom

November 27:

heat, America, coffee, North Metro Baptist Church

November 28:

"pixie power" (see below), tights, the Internet, pockets

November 29:

warmth, Twitter, Starbucks, brakes

November 30:

Emergen-C, bread, furry boots, community, Winston (my iPhone)

And now here we are at December 1. Crazy how fast time goes. Here are a couple of pictures pertaining to my list for your viewing pleasure. :)

With Erin Morris (soon to be Mrs. Kyle Grasham) after she asked me to be her maid of honor! [edited to protect THE DRESS]

The GIANT coffee mug the Barber's brought me back from Disney World! Her cup says "Pixie Power". [referenced on Nov. 28]

It really is hard for me to believe that it is December. It's also hard to believe that I moved south and I had to scrape ice off of my car this morning... ridiculous. I'm heading to New York City to visit my sister and brother-in-law tomorrow morning! So I will keep up with my listing and report back when I get home! Until then, feel free to follow me on Twitter for more frequent updates!

Love to all who read.

Alicia

Gratefulness Project

Well hey! I'm deciding right now to start a project.

In recent days, i've become more and more addicted to Pinterest...which i'm sure many of you have heard of and seen by now... Anyway, I recently saw something on Pinterest that said "What if you woke up tomorrow with only the stuff you thanked God for today?" (or something like that. don't quote me.) And that got me thinking. How grateful am I? The answer is "not very" in case you were wondering. So many times I focus more on the negative than the positive, and isn't that just the opposite of how I should act as a child of God? So, I promise this has nothing to do with this being Thanksgiving week. It actually has not been planned or thought out or even dwelt upon. I just want to be more grateful and find the good in every day. This does not mean I'll be blogging every day. There's no way I would ever follow through with that. Haha. So I'm going to commit to posts once a week (at least), but I'm going to use the wonderful technology that is my iPhone and the Notes feature to make a list every day, which I will then share with you on a weekly basis. Maybe I'll tweet them too.
Please hold me to this. I never want to overlook the blessings of God because I am so caught up in this world.

Loves.

Everybody's doing it...

I've been reading back over some of my previous posts, as well as reading some things my friends and favorite bloggers have posted recently. It's led me to one conclusion. I needed to blog. I wasn't sure what I should write about. Nothing gigantic or dramatic has happened in my life since I started my job with the GBC (going great by the way!). So I was at a loss. My writing spirit was awakened as I read an article on CNN about the dedication of the 9/11 memorial in New York City yesterday. You can find this article .'>here.

As I read, I was extremely convicted. I saw where a friend tweeted earlier today that, after seeing the images again all over the news yesterday, he finally felt the weight of that day. He said he had been in shock for the last 10 years. I think, in a way, I have been too. I was 14 on that day...sitting in World History at Sycamore High School in Pleasant View, TN. We watched the second plane hit. At 14. Of course I couldn't understand all of the implications of those events at the time. I just remember knowing it was bad.

10 years later, I realize the effect that day had on New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, PA. I'll never be able to fully empathize or understand the way it felt for the people there because I wasn't there. I know that nothing I say could ever give them the comfort that they have searched for and will continue to seek. But I can offer all that I know, and that is Jesus. Jesus is our ezer kenegdo. Our Helper. The perfect fit to any situation we may be facing. When other people have no idea what to say or do, He does and He has and He will.

In thinking about how Jesus fits into every hole left after 9/11/01, I started thinking about how Jesus would respond...based on His character, His actions recorded in the Bible, His provision in my own life... This led to the deep conviction I felt while reading the above mentioned article. In the midst of reading about families attending memorials and the words of the current President and Vice President and Former Presidents, there were these statements:

"In all, 2,753 people died on two airplanes and on the ground when the planes slammed into the World Trade Center towers, causing their collapse. That total does not include the 10 al Qaeda hijackers on board the planes."

followed later by...

"The total number of dead in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania was 2,977 people, not including 19 hijackers."

The words that broke my heart here may surprise you. While I recognize the grief associated with the huge numbers of victims, my heart aches for the parts that say "...does not include the 10..." and "...not including 19...". Why? Why aren't they included in the totals? They died in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania too. It is unrealistic of me to think that the 2,977 victims were all believers. It is possible, but not probable. As a Christian, I can't help but think that some of them are probably in hell. That may sound harsh, but it's true. As an American, I can see reasoning behind a division in the dead. Victims vs Terrorists. That one's not hard. However, my allegiance is first and foremost to Jesus, and, as a Christian, I cannot fathom Him making divisions within human lives lost. My God is Love. His heart had to hurt when any of those lives ended as he saw His creation mourning and grieving. His only distinction between any of us is lost or saved.

The Bible says, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but
is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all
should reach repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

...Not wishing that ANY should perish. That includes people who hijack planes and crash them into buildings. This is hard for me to comprehend because their actions made (and continue to make) me angry. But the Lord does not see sin like I see sin. He sees my sin as equal to their sin. He has forgiven me and removed my sin from me "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). He could've removed their sin too, if they had asked. Nothing is too big for God. No sin is too great. The only thing that sends us to hell is the rejection of the free gift offered to us in the sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God.

God doesn't look at the people living on Earth and see Arabs and Anglos and Chinese and African. He sees those that are covered by the blood of Jesus and those that are not. I am so guilty of oftentimes letting my American-ness get ahead of my Christian-ness. I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God who happens to live in America. My allegiance to Christ would not change based on my geographical location. I would do well to remember that.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is
Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:12-13 )

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free,
there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:11)

BIG NEWS!!

Hi friends, followers, random visitors, people searching for cupcake recipes and finding my blog instead...

As you can see in the title, I have some news. I wanted to tell as many people at once as possible, and this seemed like the easiest way.

Many of you know that I've been outside of Atlanta since May working at North Metro Baptist Church with the girls in the Student Ministries. It's been such an amazing experience, and I've built some incredible, lasting friendships here. Before coming on board at North Metro, I was looking pretty seriously for a job in the Atlanta area. I had some interviews, but nothing that I really felt like I would enjoy doing. I was looking here because I felt like God was bringing my time in Nashville to a close for this season of my life. I'm not sure why or for how long, but I know that Tennessee is not where I can be most effective for the Kingdom right now. So I came here.

Thanks to Maclane (the Student Pastor here) and some incredible, encouraging contacts I've made here at the church, I kept my eyes and ears open for job opportunities in this area. About two weeks ago, I had an interview with the Georgia Baptist Convention. I am very excited to tell you all that I got the job! And I'll be staying in the Lawrenceville/Buford/Suwanee/etc area! I'm also going to be as involved as I can be with the Girls' Ministry at North Metro, and teaching 11th Grade Girls Sunday School this fall. I'm really, really excited about being able to put down roots here. The people in this church are amazing, and there is an incredible mission field here in Georgia. I believe that God has put me here at this time for a specific reason, and I'm so excited about it!

My actual job at the GBC is in the Information Services Department, so I'm looking forward to learning new things and being able to equip pastors and church staff members around the state to do effective and exciting ministry! I'll start there full-time on the 15th, and I cannot wait!

Staying here is bittersweet because I've never really lived anywhere other than Nashville. My family is there, so I will always be able to visit and "go home" for holidays and special occasions, but it won't be the same as living down the road. There will be some adjustments, but I know the Lord can and will see me through whatever I encounter because He has a plan and hems me in behind and before. I am so thankful for this opportunity, and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. Please continue! Love you more than you know.

Alicia

Luau!!

Hey pals. So I'm really excited about something and I wanted to share my joy and excitement with you! Here in the North Metro Student Ministries office, we're planning a luau. The Wednesday night before all of our students go back to school, we're getting together on the volleyball courts and fields, grilling out, playing games and wearing grass skirts. Well, the grass skirt part may not be entirely true... Hawaiian shirts will most definitely be making an appearance though. Fo Sho. I can assure you of this because the music is being provided by an "Old Man Band". This name was lovingly bestowed upon a makeshift band we've developed over the last month or so because it is comprised of a lot of dads. Aside from me and a guy named Eric who is about my age, the youngest guy has a middle school daughter... Hence the name "Old Man Band". (I've also been told there are some younger men in our church who dubbed themselves the "Boy Band", and that may have contributed to the name as well.) Anyway, with age comes experience. And talent. And jokes. So we have had the most fun practicing and playing all the songs we're going to do for the Luau. I mentioned at rehearsal yesterday that this is like a dream come true for me. haha. I get to sing all the cool songs (Heatwave, Locomotion, Proud Mary, etc...) in a setting that isn't karaoke or my car or the shower. We're doing summertime classics plus some other songs just for fun. It's such a pleasant atmosphere to be in too. All of these guys are so talented and committed. They take time out of the regularly scheduled lives to work on songs for a student event. I appreciate them more than I can say. I hope they're having fun too. I think they are. I know I am.

Island Blessings to you and yours. :)

Alicia

ps. August 3. 6:30-8:00, if you're interested.