It hasn’t been long since Hurricane Helene devastated many places on the eastern coast of the US. I remember watching the news footage of the massively powerful flood waters washing away cars, homes, roads….everything in their path.

This past weekend, I went to Saturday morning prayer. Towards the end of the hour, Pastor Chris Erwin led us in prayer for those in those areas who were still without many things we consider necessities for living. He said this: “We have teams on the ground in these areas who are strapping water and diapers and food on the back of their 4-Wheelers and ATVs to drive their supplies up the mountain and help them.”

In that moment, the Lord put a picture in front of me that closely resembles the one you see here. It was a broken road.

(Now, for all of your Rascal Flatts fans….go ahead and sing it out and then continue reading. 🎤 🎶)

Here is what that picture meant to me:

The people at the top of that mountain had the road washed out from underneath them…..the road representing their self-sufficiency. They literally could not make their way down the mountain….they had to wait and trust in the provision of those precious servant hearted people to be able to make it. I can only imagine the conversation at the exchange sites as the provision was handed over to those in need –
“Thank you so much.”
“We didn’t know how we were going to make it.”
“You are an answer to our prayers.”

Crisis is a great editor.

The picture I saw represents us. We have gotten so self-sufficient. We are able to do a lot of things really, really, really well and have, in many cases, minimized or eliminated our dependency on the Lord. We have technology, we have gifts and talents, we have intellect, we have resources, we have modern medicine. I thank God for blessing us with all of those things and have certainly been on the receiving end of all of them – whether directly or indirectly.

Sometimes, however, the road gets broken….washed out….and those things we put our “faith” in, so to speak, are inaccessible. There we find ourselves desperate again…..waiting on the provision that can only come from Him. The peace that can only come from Him. The calm that can come IN the storm, not just on the other side of it.

I saw me in that picture.

There are a lot of things I can do and handle just fine on my own. Until I can’t.

The road gets washed out and I become dependent again:

I saw us in that picture. There are a lot of things we can do and handle just fine on our own….in our businesses, our homes, our communities, our relationships, our finances, our politics, our _, even our churches. Until we can’t.

The road gets washed out and we become dependent and desperate again.

Don’t miss the picture.
Don’t miss your position in the picture. Don’t miss His provision – always there, but sometimes we only notice it when we can’t provide or solve the problem on our own.

Please read all of Psalm 34, but I’ll close with these two verses:

“The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭34‬:‭17‬-‭18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Help us, Lord, return to a place of total dependence on You. Daily. Hourly. Minute-ly. 😊 Break us of our misplaced faith and teach us, once again, to fully rely on You. We hear You.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen.

LONG. Worth the read.

All you children of the 80’s….you know all about that original Nintendo, Super Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt!

Thursday morning, I had breakfast with some friends and there is always Spiritual discussion to be had. One friend, Angel Reaves, shared about prayer team this past Sunday morning. We have a prayer team that prays before, during, and after every service. Angel shared that “during prayer Sunday, I began to see black birds 🐦‍⬛ up in the atmosphere trying to steal seed sown along the path. So we began to pray and come against those ‘robbers’.”

Matthew 13 (my favorite parable) tells us the parable of the sower. There are four types of soil…..representative of how our hearts look. They can be hard, they can be shallow, they can be captivated by the world, or they can be tender and receptive. Four types of soil……but One Seed -the Word of God – that was down for all of them. For the hard heart, the seed was down but birds came along to try to snatch said Seed away before there could be any lasting effect.

Birds.

Behind our house, there is a creek. And a lot of trees. And a lot of birds. My husband, Kyle Hudgins, has become quite intrigued by the birds. He downloaded an app – Merlin Bird ID – that can “listen” to the chirps and sounds of the bird to identify them. He can literally sit on our back porch, click “listen,” and have results within seconds that “these types of birds” are there. Their chirps make them identifiable.

This morning, I went to our Saturday prayer service. Angel’s word about birds came to mind and I got the “Duck Hunt” picture in my mind. Our son loves to duck hunt and does a lot of work in the early hours to get where the ducks are to “take them out.” I thought about how I often pray for the “soil of hearts” to be tender and receptive to the Word of God and the work of God. Today, I was prompted to shift my focus to the “birds” trying to snatch away the Seed.

As I read cards begging for God to intervene in people’s marriages, to heal their sicknesses, to lead them into community, to draw them to God, to give them wisdom in decision making, to help them share joy in their workplace…..I felt the need to call out the birds. It’s time to take out the things that are trying to steal what God is doing around us. The birds of….
💥 inferiority/envy
💥superiority/pride
💥division
💥deception
💥shame
💥perversion
💥addiction
💥gossip
💥double-mindedness
💥unbelief
💥self-sufficiency
💥bitterness
💥greed
💥idolatry

WE SEE YOU, BIRDS. And it’s time for you to GO!!!

We are in a fight, y’all. Yes, I pray for hearts to be tender and receptive to Holy Spirit. And I’m also praying that those “birds” get taken out so He can do the work in our lives that will change eternity and the trajectory of all we do and are!!

Help us see the birds hovering over our homes….our churches…..our workplaces…..our friendships…..our country…..our relationship with Jesus…..and LET’S TAKE THOSE BIRDS OUT!

🙏🏼🐦‍⬛💥

Today is July 4th – a celebration of our Freedom as a nation – and we also had an AMAZING message from Bubba Massey on Freedom at church last night. So……while mowing the grass today, the Lord spoke to me about Freedom. Here goes.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

And then the Message paraphrase of the same verse:
“Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I went through a Freedom Group (called LIFE back then) in 2014 – an opportunity to begin the process of dealing with some of the junk that was under the surface in my life. Since then, I’ve led Freedom many other times (shout out to all of you Freedom Fighters!!!) – and, while leading, you go through it again. You deal with more stuff that was a little deeper, or new situations that arose.

Here comes the Lesson from the Lawn today.

Look at the picture. You can see the lines in the grass – so pretty and gratifying – but you can also see some lumps (which will soon be cleaned up). Those represent areas that were extra thick. There was too much grass to fit through the mower in one attempt, so there was evidence that some further cleanup would have to be done. Otherwise, that will all just get tracked in my house.

Listen, my friends – FREEDOM is not a one and done thing. It would be so nice….but the grass grows back and there are clumps that have to be cleaned up or you’ll continue to track them wherever you go.

One of the questions Pastor Bubba asked last night was this – “what wound has taken root in your life that you’re now tolerating?” OUCH. Translation…..there are some clumps in my life that need to be cleaned up.

Anger and rejection would be just two of mine that are on the surface again…..just being real.

So – it is for FREEDOM you have been set free. But you’ve got to keep fighting for it. Don’t allow the frustrations or busyness of daily life to cause you to let your guard down. Keep fighting. Keep standing. Keep finding freedom. It’s worth it!

Time to grab that rake……

Have you ever referred to yourself as a “Control Freak” and chuckled as you said it? Maybe you’ve called someone else the same. Society has made this kind of a term of endearment these days…..but being a control freak couldn’t be further from a compliment.

Today’s sermon once again spoke to me and brought up some “junk” that is easier to just keep under the surface. While I wish I didn’t have so much “stuff” to address in my life, I’m also thankful for the patience of God as that process happens. Since none of us are named “Waze,” I guess none of us arrived yet.

Today’s message was about having joy even in the midst of challenging circumstances. It may be easier to feel joyful when life is good and trials are over. But I think about these Scriptures that present joy in a different light:

“And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength!””
‭‭Nehemiah‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”
‭‭James‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬ ‭NLT

Friday was a bit of a challenging day. Our fridge died Thursday night and I was up until 2:30 on Friday morning cleaning up, transferring food to the deep freeze in the garage, and finding irony that I was tending to a fridge that died at the exact same time my dad passed away two years earlier. I ruminated on that all day. Then I ruminated on some things professionally that had me playing through unnecessary “what ifs” and “if/thens.” Nothing – NO THING – good came from any of that.

How sweet the Lord is to send a Word for me today. I was certainly not the only person in the room but felt like I was as the message continued.

Why do we do this? Why do we ruminate on things we can’t control to the point of allowing them to steal our joy? Maybe it’s out of fear or hurt /offense. I don’t know…..but it’s real.

Galatians 5 names “self-control “ as one part of the fruit of the Spirit. Jesus, give me strength to be in control of me and where my eyes are fixed…..and truly trust You with the rest. Help me to find joy in the good, the bad, the easy, the hard, and everything in between.

May we break off the control freak tendencies , stop labeling ourselves and others with that title, and learn to TRUST so we can find You in it all.

If you are reading this, you have not “reached your destination”……you have not “arrived”……so keep on growing. There’s joy in the journey (and grace along the way)!!!

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”  Proverbs 18:21 (NLT)

 

I’m not really sure who came up with the little rhyme of “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” but they couldn’t have been further from the truth.  Broken bones are much easier to heal than broken spirits. 

 

I’m pushing on 50 years old and have a few scars on my body where I was bitten by a dog, fell on a concrete step with my mouth, and underwent knee surgery for a major softball injury.  There are scars, but they don’t tingle with pain when I see a dog, walk on a concrete step, or play softball.  However, I can recall some things that were said to me or about me back into my childhood years that can bring up a wound as if it happened today.  Some of those words were about my appearance, some of them were in some of the most awkward years of my life (hello, middle school!), some of them were about my personality, some of them were about my leadership, some of them were about my faith.  Regardless of the topic, they were about ME and they hurt.  Some of them made me put walls up around my heart, some of them made me feel rejected in social settings (which still comes up today), and some of them made me feel like I should shrink back from who God created me to be.  Definitely seems like a broken bone would be much easier to address.

 

Today, our Father’s Day sermon at church was about the power of words.  I cried and I was certainly convicted.  Yes, I have had harsh and unkind things said to me and about me.   Sometimes those could have been spoken out of the wounds of the other person; sometimes it was from the “truth” of their perspective.  At the same time, I have also spoken harsh and unkind things to and about others.  My heart is heavy for the way I have used my tongue and words in certain situations.

 

Words. Are. Powerful.  To borrow a phrase I first heard from Pastor Rick Warren, “Hurting people hurt people.”  If we have wounds, if we have unhealed offenses, those things ARE going to come to surface at some point.  Yes, we are human and have frustrations.  However, we are 100% responsible for what we do and say………REGARDLESS of what they do, don’t do, or say.  Today was a reminder to me of some unaddressed hurts I have and some change I want – and need – to make. 

 

The sermon was about giving words of acceptance, of affection, and of affirmation.  While I can quickly remember those who have wounded me with their words, I can also recall those who positively shaped my future because of their words.  In return, I’m able to use my words to add value to others and, prayerfully, positively shape their lives, self-worth, and view of God. 

 

If I have used my mouth to hurt you, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness. 

 

If I have used my mouth to speak negatively about someone to you, I ask for your forgiveness.

 

If I have joined in by listening to negative conversation about others, I ask for your forgiveness. 

 

In the days ahead, if you hear things come out of my mouth that are not true, helpful, inspiring, necessary, or kind……….i ask for your accountability.  No more wounds talking.  No more offense talking.  I want to truly live out God’s Word. As Ephesians 4:29 says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for BUILDING OTHERS UP according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

 

This is a very raw and honest post. Let’s be #BetterTogether.