“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
~ Colossians 3:23 NIV84

I work full time in customer service, and in this particular line of work I’m in; we can’t always give the customer what they want, and like anyone that works in customer service you have the good customers, and then there are the bad customers!
You know the type. Demanding, crabby, taking out all of their days stresses on you the employee because you’ve told them no. They’re the type that will barge in to your comfortable work environment, hand on hips and acting like Miss or Mr. Bossy Pants! (or on the phone you can imagine them strutting around their kitchen in this manner)

I just finished reading the book Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst in between reading Greater & this book, and I’ve discovered that sometimes – these “crabby pants customers” are not taking out their frustrations on me the worker… but rather extending their frustrations throughout the rest of their own life, and projecting it on me when I can’t give them what they want. Because isn’t it easy to “blow up” at strangers?

Regardless though – its my job as christian to show the rest of the world love and respect in imitation of how Christ loved.  Even if I don’t answer the phone, “Hello my name is Lindsey and I’m a Christian, how may I act like Christ for you today?”

Though I do have a human boss, ultimately I’m working for God the father who created all of us equally, and while it is so much easier to project love and a cheerful attitude with those customers who are kind to me I must remind myself that I always must treat everyone with the same level of courtesy.

Take e-mails for an example. Its so quick and easy to just go through my day and respond to myriad e-mails with the same generic and quick response, especially when I’ve rattled off the same answer a hundred times already that day, but how much better do you feel when you get an e-mail from a company that seems genuine, and real and kind…

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
~ Colossians 3:23 NIV84

Reminding myself daily that I work for the Father, and that maybe… just maybe the customer really needs to be made to feel special this day. Perhaps a very cheerful sound of my voice, and a perpetual smile on my face is just what they need even if they don’t extend the same courtesy to me!

Would I stand up for what is solely right? Even if it could cost me everything?

A lot can be learned from Queen Esther. An evil and arrogant man named Haman wanted to kill all of the jews in much of the same way that Hitler did. One of the primary jews that Haman was after –  caught the eye of Queen Esther in his dispare (knowing what Haman wanted to do to him and his people). When she asked what the matter he explained to her Haman’s plans.

Knowing she had nothing to loose (since she was also a jew, and certainly would ensue the same fate as the others) Esther said she would go to the queen as a chance to save her people. As queen she still didn’t have a lot of rights in her day, so when she went to the King to ask him to save her  there were no guarantees.

She came up with a plan to ask the king to save Mordecai and the jews. During the time leading up to it Esther and her people fasted and prayed to the Lord. Then the time came.

God the father was working behind the scenes to prepare the kings heart – who had learned that Mordecai had once saved King Xerxes, and as Haman was walking in to the kings court to ask that Mordecai be impailed on a pole, just as he wanted to do to Mordeecai.

Queen Esther’s example shows me to be brave when talking about my own faith – especially now, when we don’t have to fear in America being persecuted, or killed for our faith. There should be no excuses….  for Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in Heaven” – Matthew 10:32-33.

Well i’ve arrived and finished up Isaiah. I’ve somewhat abandoned my chronological reading plan, because I only had it marked down on You Version and didn’t want to rely on my phone for reading the bible.  I love opening my bible up (paper) and pouring into it with a pencil and writing notes, and adding flags to the side of it for easy reference.

When looking up chronological plans to print out I noticed discrepancies between them, so i’ll finish the rest of the bible straight through.

So. Back to Isaiah. My first major prophetic book of the bible, and it was FULL of amazing insight. I loved the yoking of Isaiah, and the gospels and the look ahead. Up until now things for the Israelites have seemed pretty dismal. They sin – God gets angry, but they hadn’t heard of Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child is born to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen.”(NLT)

What great news! We also see (maybe for the first time) the great throne of God in Isaiah 6:1-8. He was sitting on a throne, high and exalted, and his robe filled the whole temple. Around him, flaming creatures were standing, each of which had six wings, and its body with two, and used the other two for flying. They were calling out to each other: “Holy, Holy, Holy! Is the Lord God Almighty”. (TEV)

We see again in Revelation and elsewhere throughout the bible that these creatures, and angels continually sing this out,  “Holy, Holy, Holy! Is the Lord God Almighty”. If they’re doing it, certainly shouldn’t I as a mere human? Praise God more?

We also see here that God is the ultimate and only God in Isaiah 45:9. In my TEV version it goes like this, “Does a clay pot dare argue with its maker, a pot that is like all the others? Does the clay ask the potter what he is doing? Doe s the pot complain that its maker has no skill? Do we dare say to our parents, why did you make me like this?” Gulp. Now go look up Chapter 45:18-19.  I’m not giving you a freebie. Go. Look it up.

And my very favorite verse of the whole entire bible is in Isaiah 43:4 “Thats how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade all the creation just for you.”

How do you not fall to your knees from that kind of love?

As I wind down my journey through the book “Greater” to I feel myself standing as if peering out into the horizon on the Grand Canyon.

I’ve been told I can do greater, and I believe I can, but now what? I have a few things in mind, like turning my [very small] photography business/hobby into a non-profit, but as I read the closing chapter and pastor Steven Furtick prayed over us I realized I need to just start being greater where I am.

At home, in my relationships (as a wife and a mother, and friend), at work, and anywhere else the wind blows me.

I’m not going to settle anymore for being standard, or for merely “trying” to be a good Christian. But actively pursuing to be more like Christ. I’ll pour out my heart little by little with God holding my hand every step of the way.

Here are my goals  for greater  for 2013.

1.) Spending more [quality] time with my husband. Instead of merely passing the time watching shows, or at worse spending time in separate rooms, actively planning dates, even free dates when money is tight. We’ve been together (mostly) for over 12 years, and married for almost 7. Its easy to get comfortable and not have that flirty passion you had in the beginning  but reminding oneself to turn off the Pinterest, put down the knitting, and spend time with the hubs and pursue him more like I did in the beginning!

2.) Making more memories for with my daughter. As an only child its really up to me (and dad) to shower our daughter with companionship. Yes – she has companions at school, but allowing her to watch the iPad after school, or at night alone, instead of building a fort with her, and watching a movie together etc is something I need to focus on more. Its too easy to be tired from a day at work, and running errands, and to just want time for myself, but there is a wee one who needs me, and there will come a time  likely in six short years [as a teen] when she will tell me she needs me no more. I want to treasure these precious days while I still have them!

3. Finish the bible by June. Whether I stick with the chronological plan, or read the rest straight through – I  need to finish it. And continue reading christian books that can help build my knowledge to support my goals in #4.

4. Unashamed Impact. On Twitter and Facebook I’m committed to sharing the word of God, and re-tweeting to a bunch of strangers all things Christ, but in the real world I find myself trying to be too politically correct. This year with Gods courage I’ll stand up for what I really believe in, and find opportunities- that if I paused and looked a little harder- are being poured out all over to share the love of Christ everywhere I go.

Here is to 2013 and the Greater things to come!

I’ve been blogging an awful lot through the bible study Greater, which if you or your group hasn’t picked up a copy – I strongly suggest you pick this book up!

But – I wanted to catch you up to what I’ve been doing with my journey of reading through the entire bible in 365 days. As you know I started last June, and although I’ve missed some days – i’ve worked very hard on following chasing christ through the bible to see how His Story has been interwoven through the old testament, and how it points to our savior.

Of course I’ve picked up some nuggets for myself along the way – because after all… isn’t that what the bible is about? It is the Story of God, and I believe a handbook for humans to show us how to do life. Its been a little tricky to blog through because this chronological plan because it jumps around so much, but I recently read through Jonah & Micah ~ two of my very favorites, and I just started Hosea!

Hosea – oh boy! At first sight i’m reading through the sad fall of Israel and how they’ve turned their back on the Lord, when after all they’ve done the Lord still reaches out and says, I love you. I have a copy of the Mom’s Devotional Bible, and I love how it has paraphrased Hosea and motherhood; that no matter what your children do, its important as moms to show them a steady love!

This week for our Greater topic I chose to write about what I can do to become greater. Chapter six is all about using what we have to further the mission of God. Don’t have a million bucks? Donate that $10 in your pocket that you’re just going to waste on a Starbucks! Don’t have time to go on a mission trip? Go volunteer at a local charity.

I’m always saying to myself – once my husband and I pay off some bills and we have extra money – then maybe I can go on a mission trip, or give more.  My focus has always been money – because that’s what everyone is always asking for. Not only are things tight in our household because we’d like to be completely debt free, but also my husband is agnostic – so the thought of giving 10% of our income to church or charity- probably isn’t in the realm of possibilities in the near future.

But my time is a possibility. See, my husband is extremely supportive of my walk with Christ, and interestingly enough often encourages me! (“hon wake up, time for church”). I’m raising our daughter in the Christian faith, and he 100% backs it. Though its not for him [yet] – he doesn’t want to ‘ruin’ that for our daughter. I thank him with all of my heart for this!

He doesn’t mind- or think its odd when I want to serve at church, or volunteer at Feed My Starving Children etc, and if I make [side job] money and want to donate that – he doesn’t mind. So what do I have? I definitely have time.

I realized just a few months/weeks ago that my pursuit of my nursing career (i’m taking generals at the moment) needs to be put on hold. It wasn’t just a “chemistry is super hard” but a real nudge from only what I could say was God that said “put this on hold”.   Not only because this is precious time that I am spending away from my daughter, but I have a job I truly love, and co-workers I adore.

I have a bachelors degree in Health Education, and I really am content! Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and although my background [from time in the Navy] was in the medical field – being now 8+ years out of it I may find that I’m only remembering the good points. I feel God is leading me away from this path; at least for now.

So – what to do with all of my new free time starting this Saturday the 15th? (my final is Saturday morning)…. VOLUNTEER & Raise money and awareness! I have a heart for serving others, and my daughter does as well. I recently [last October] did a photo fundraiser for Feed My Starving Children. I’m an amateur portrait photographer, so I set up this “one day – and one location swing by this ‘said’ park and 60% of the proceeds will go towards FMSC. ”

Just last weekend (i’m so behind on things sometimes due to college) I finally swung by FMSC with my daughter right as they were ready to do a pack with a bunch of volunteers. They asked if we wanted to stay to help pack, and I asked how old kiddos had to be to volunteer, and she said 5. Interestingly enough my daughter just turned five, so I said, well we have a few hours to spare- why not.

Guess what? My daughter absolutely LOVED it! So what can I give? Time and resources. God blessed me with taking photos, and I’m not trying to make money off it (well a living I should say) so I can use that tallent to give to an organization that does so much with so little. Its truly a loves and fishes organization! So I feel God is leading me towards making my photography “company” a non-profit! I’ll start out small, and see where it takes me, and in the mean time – I can spend time with my daughter doing something we both love, and something that chases after Gods heart!

I’m so embarrassed to share this, and say this out loud, but I think I have an addiction. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines addiction as follows:

My husband is constantly telling me that I’m on it too much, and I can tell that while i’m out in the kitchen catching up on mere acquaintanceship with Facebook, [we] are missing out on something greater in our relationship.

He even once had me watch a Dateline NBC special about how the internet interferes with peoples daily lives, and relationships and while I sat there watching, thinking this isn’t me… they’re really bad, and while we agree that i’m truthfully not full out addicted to it, its not interfering with my parenting, or daily living… Facebooking, and Pinteresting, and the tweeting is is making my husband feel like he is competing for my time.

And that is not ok. We can have a greater relationship, and a stronger relationship if I put in as much time and devotion to us then my old high school/navy friends that if i’m honest with myself aren’t worth as much time as I’m giving them.

If you asked me what my top 5 things/people in life I would instantly tell you:

* My relationship with God
* My Husband
* My daughter
* My work
* My fitness

But if you looked at how I spent my time, I’d ashamedly have to admit “fostering relationships with acquaintances” and  “trying to impress/get many followers on Twitter to be popular” would be right up towards the top.

It finally REALLY hit me when reading Chapter 4 last night. This is something I need to burn – or at a bare minimum take out to the woods and start on fire. While I’m not really ready to completely torch my social networks (delete my accounts) I plan to severely limit myself to checking them out.

I’m changing my password to something very weird, and jibbery so that it’d be impossible to remember off the top of my head.

I think my relationships that I listed as the most important above have such the potential to be greater with this small step!

Here’s to burning my plows.

“For Jesus’ disciples, burning the plows meant leaving their fishing nets and boats {Matthew 4:18-22}. 

1 Kings 19:21″So Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast their flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople, and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant.”

First of all – I’m getting a bit of ADD with my Chronological Reading Plan. I can’t just simply pick up any Bible and read because the order is so bizarre – so its a bit annoying to me.  For now – I’ll keep with it, but I might try to figure out where I’m actually at (in regular order) which is 1 Kings, and read straight through.  So. We’ll see.

But – onto Ecclesiastes. I read this straight through last night. I couldn’t put it down. I highlighted more in this book than I didn’t, and it looks like highlighter threw up over my [iPad] bible [app]. Lately I’ve been obsessed with reading Gods word and find myself reading several days worth at a time.

There is a time for EVERYTHING! 

I’m currently taking part of something really cool- and that is an Online Bible Study. I found this from a devotional e-mail I get delivered to me through Proverbs 31. We’re currently reading through the book Greater by Pastor Steven Furtick. Its all about how God has called each of us do do greater!

Each day we get a little nugget of something to do with the book so that we can fully embrace our online community.

Today we were challenged to Lift someone up that inspires us to live greater. There is a gal in my life that encourages me every day. To slow down and smell the roses of life every once in a while, read my bible every day, and help others especially when there is a need right in front of me.

She looks at life with simplicity. While I get caught up in to-dos, and planning, she knows just how to live in the ‘now’ moment, and to take each moment and treasure it because it is a gift from God! Sometimes I brush her aside because I have so many things to do – but God has given us TODAY! Tomorrow isn’t promised yet, and often I miss things that God had in store for me TODAY. I’m learning this truth from her every day.

She also encourages me and reminds me to read the bible every day!

She shows me so often on how to be a greater giver. For example we are looking at things in our house that we can give to the local homeless shelter and while I cling tight to some of my belongings [i don’t even use anymore], and convince myself how much I need some of my things, she is overjoyed to throw in this – that, and the other thing and is a very very cheerful giver. It honestly makes me feel a little convicted – because truth be told I’ve been given so much. She loves helping people, and gets very passionate about helping the hopeless which is what she calls the homeless.

This gal is my daughter K. She is five years old, and already has an amazing heart for God and others!

I know that God is calling me to do even MORE and be greater and its a blessing that he has given me such a wise daughter…I am learning so much from her!