Merry Christmas from the Long's 2018

Merry Christmas from the Long’s!

What a year it has been!  It feels like just yesterday that I was writing our last holiday letter.  Actually, that’s a lie.  I barely remember what actually happened yesterday let alone a year from now.  Kids kill brain cells you know….

Speaking of kids, ours are great!  Michael is in 6^th grade and handling middle school like a champ.  He’s in beginning band this year, playing percussion.  On top of soccer and piano lessons that means he makes a whole lot of noise and beats on stuff a bunch.  His other favorite hobby is asking for a phone.  Our favorite hobby is saying no. 

Blake is in 5^th grade and ready to move out of elementary school.  We can tell because of how often he refers to everyone around him as “idiots”.  He enjoys guitar lessons and also playing soccer.  His first love is hunting, though, and if we’d just let him move to the deer lease like he’s asked he could do it all the time.  And be around less idiots.

Zachary is in 3^rd grade, is teaching himself the ukulele (seriously) and still loves playing, well, anything with a ball.  Or without a ball.  Did you know you can even compete at blinking?  It’s true.  I bet you’re losing right now.  Zachary is smart and bright and funny and caring.  And currently beating you at blinking.

Parker is in 1^st grade.  He loves reading and not following directions at home.  This fall he played on a flag football team and did not love it.  We can’t blame him.  Have you seen some of those flag football parents?  They are crazy.  Lots of talent out there, but also lots that can’t tie their own shoes. 

Kevin (still bearded) is still with his firm, Oldenettel & Long.  He says and does lots of important lawyer-y stuff.  In his free time he scoops leaves and small snakes from the pool.  We celebrate 15 years of marriage this month!  The magic is still there, folks.  I mean, when I hear him argue with people on the internet he may or may not even know, well…..  I’ll just stop there.  This is a family letter after all.

I am still on staff at our church, Foundry UMC.  In my free time I’ve really committed to Netflix.  I don’t mean just watching an occasional show, but really connecting with several fictional and non-fictional characters I will never meet.  It’s a whole different kind of rewarding to lose yourself in the drama of Britain’s royal family when you’ve been listening to the sideline commentary of 1^st and 2^nd grade flag football parents for several weekends in a row.

And so in the middle of all this madness and joy we come to Christmas!  I love what my devotional said this morning….”Advent is an invitation to perceive. Christmas calls us to look again” (Matt LeRoy).  We look again at the year behind us—remembering the good with the bad!—and see Christ at work in so many ways.  And we look again to the future—always hoping & sometimes questioning—and are assured He will be there.  May you and your family rest in this same peace now, and in the New Year ahead!

XOXO….Kevin, Kelly, Michael, Blake, Zachary and Parker

Pictured from left to right:

Zachary (currently winning at picture-taking)

Parker (tied his own shoes...JK...they're velcro)

Michael (so much 6th grade swagger we don't even know where to begin)

Blake (solely responsible for the 15 shots it took us to get one decent picture together)

Kevin & Kelly (making a list of cocktails to try when the boys move out one day)

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter....

I'll admit that amid the joys of parenting there have--from time to time--been moments of frustration as well.  Moments that remind me of that line in the Christmas poem "when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter".  Literally.  Like the boys are actually fighting in the front yard.  Moments that have driven me to shut myself inside the laundry room (no one ever looks there) and eat a chocolate bar.  Sometimes when my kids call my name--"MOM!!!"--I reply, "She left!"  It doesn't work, just so you know.  They know too well the sound of my voice.

John 10:4-5 says, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

Ah, to know the voice of the Shepherd.

Can I be honest that I started the Christmas season this year a little grumpy?  I don't know why exactly.  The weather.  The traffic.  The calendar.  On December 1 I got down on my knees and poured it all out to God, that I desperately did not want to be this season's Grinch and I most certainly was not interested in a whole month of a fake-it-till-you-make-it attitude.  That evening we attended the Christmas party of some dear friends and there--amid the clatter--came the voice of Christ.  It wasn't anything huge or expensive or glittery.  It was simply His presence lived out in those around me, the reassurance in that time and place that He was there.  My head turned and I followed immediately.

That's my prayer for you this season, that you would hear the voice of Christ.  Beyond the lights that sparkle and the trees that gleam.  Among the crowds in the stores and above the joyful noise of each holiday party.  As you look over your calendar and plan your menu....

His voice.

Let us follow it, each and everyone of us.  Amen.

XOXO...Kelly
 

Like a fish out of water...

My Monday morning walk took a bizarre turn this week when a friend and I happened upon--of all things--a fish on the sidewalk near my home.  

We figured either Sharknado was 'bout to happen or a large bird had dropped it mid-flight.  At 1pm that afternoon the fish was still on the sidewalk and, we discovered, still alive!  Feeling slightly guilty for having let the poor thing suffer so long, Blake and I filled a bucket with water and transported it to a nearby creek where it swam away.

 

(He's a cute little wildlife conservationist, isn't he??)

That fish laid on the sidewalk for 5 hours, still and seemingly lifeless.  There's no telling how far down it fell when it landed there.  But you should have seen it when we dropped it in the water!  Its gills moved and fins fluttered.  It's head searched for the direction of the current and righted immediately.  That fish found life again.

In the book of John it's recorded that Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well and offers her living water.  

"Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”  The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”  John 4:4-15

Y'all, there are so many souls living in a fish-out-of-water state everyday.  If I'm honest even I find myself there on a pretty regular basis, where I am half-full of the life God wants for me and sorely out of place.  But friends, there is living water that can revive us the way the creek near my house revived that fish.  There is a Savior that not only quenches our thirst, but rejuvenates us completely, who removes us from the dry, cold ground and sets us free to swim again.

The most beautiful part of this passage in John is how Jesus goes on in this conversation to name this woman's sin.  He asks her to go and bring her husband back to him, knowing that she is not married, and she confesses the truth to him (verses 15-18).  At first glance maybe it looks like Jesus is being unkind, taunting her with a promise and then reminding her of her past.  But as the account continues "The woman said, "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes he will explain everything to us."  Then Jesus declared, "I--the one speaking to you--I am He."  (verses 25-26)

Here Jesus declares who He is.  Not a prophet with limited wisdom or vision, but the One True God who sees her and knows her and offers her life.  In those times no man would have spoken so freely with a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman.  But the life that Christ offers is not limited by world says we can do, or what society says we deserve.  And her encounter with Jesus would not only change the course of her own life, but the lives of many more because of her testimony (verse 39).

Christ sees you.  He sees your struggle.  Your past.  Your present frustrations.  And He comes to you anyway.  Because the life He wants for you--for any of us--is not cold.  It is not misplaced.  It is not devoid of hope.  It is, rather, eternal.  And it is not just rescue, but it is rebirth.  For you, and for all those who will hear the Good Word He has put into your life.  

So swim, friends.  Swim.

XOXO....Kelly   

        

Bad gifts

The holiday season is just around the corner.  I overheard someone talking the other day about Christmas shopping.  Arg.  Let's just leave that right there for now....  But it did make me think.  Have you ever received a really terrible gift?  One year for Christmas I bought my mom a musical coffee mug.  Every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music.  This was a terrible gift because (a) my mom did not drink coffee and (b) every time you lifted it up it played Christmas music.  The dogs kept knocking it over while it was wrapped and under the tree and music would come from out of nowhere.

What's a person to do when they receive a bad gift?  If you're a mother and your wonderful middle daughter has spent her very own money on a musical mug I think you just accept it and wait for the day when said mug "mysteriously disappears".  But there are some bad gifts you don't have to accept...

I love what my good friend Jennifer Patrick says about not accepting bad gifts from others.  Comments, opinions and criticisms that we are all going to hear about ourselves at one point or another, from friends and enemies alike.  Jennifer says to think of this sort of feedback as a gift.  You either accept it or you don't.  Once you've accepted it you have to do something with it.  Do you believe in it?  Carry it around with you?  Let the words change you?  

Or do you recognize those words for what they are--a bad gift--and simply say, "No, thank you. I just don't have room something like that right now."

There is great freedom in accepting the grace Christ offers you, not because you are perfect.  Not because you may ever get to perfect!  But because He loves you, He died for you, and He has a purpose for you.  

"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." Ephesians 4:29

Anything less is a musical coffee mug for someone who doesn't drink coffee.  And you, my friend, simply don't have to accept it.

XOXO....Kelly 

*Interested in more life-affirming words for yourself, your friends and family?  In a world full of misleading thoughts and "bad gifts" we all need a reminder about where our truth comes from.  Contact Jennifer Patrick at jpatrickcomm@sbcglobal.net about hosting a Soul Book Gathering, a unique experience in creating art from the heart and finding your truth!  

Jesus is my candidate....

It's nearing election time in Texas, which, as per usual, has left me feeling a little frustrated.  Candidates that fall short on each side.  Voter opinion that falls just as short.  Media in the middle mucking the whole thing up!  I may be prepared to back someone with my vote, but decidedly not with my hope.  Because in today's political climate (and social and financial) I fear we are really all just going to be swimming in circles until Jesus comes!!

Isaiah 26 says "We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts" (vs.1).  As I think about this country, my state, city and community, I know I fortunate to be where I am.  The history laid before us, of service and sacrifices made by so many.  Though we are far from perfect, we know how far we've come.  We must protect that.  And yet....

Our world is fragile.  The buildings in which we live and work and worship are just that.  Brick and mortar and stone built by man and just as easily undone.  In God alone do we have what outlasts.  In God alone do we find salvation.  In God alone do we find peace. 

"Lord, YOU establish peace for us, all that we have accomplished you have done for us" (vs. 12).  

I don't know who your candidate of choice is for the upcoming elections, but regardless of who you vote for, you have a God that outlasts.  You have a God that builds walls that do not come down, a God of salvation, order and peace.  You have a God that says politics be damned, do what is right.  Love your neighbor.  Serve your community.  Seek justice.  Live in peace.  For no man or woman in any place of power may take these away when God has given them to you.

Your vote counts, friends.  But your faith counts greater.  

XOXO....Kelly 

Snake pants, 5 years later...

In my first blog post here 5 1/2 years ago, I wrote about a pair of snake-printed skinny pants I had mustered up the courage to put on after 6 years of being pregnant and having babies.  The pants, for me, became kind of a symbol.  A moving on from one phase into another, as my oldest started kindergarten and our youngest was...well...the last.  And a reminder, that the clothes on the outside of us are nothing compared to the peace of God that dwells within.

Those pants are still in my drawer.  I got to thinking about them the other day, maybe because I haven't worn them in a while.  (The peace of God is still certainly hanging around, but the waistline doesn't look exactly the same.)  This year my oldest starts middle school, so onward we go, into a new phase with new challenges and new opportunities.  The more we move on, the more joy I receive from getting to know God's peace....

My peace I leave you, my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:26

You see, God's peace is not always ideal.  Sometimes the soul is tired.  Sometimes the soul is angry.  Sometimes the soul cannot see the path in front of it.  But His peace is constant.  It is faithful.  And when all the world around me is screaming, it is the whisper that keeps me balanced.

God's peace is also a promise.  When we cannot see it, cannot feel it, are not sure it is there...it is in these moments that Christ invites us to call out to Him, that we might receive His peace not as we might expect the world to give us a gift, but as He might give one.

I pray you peace for the road ahead, friends.  I pray for ups and downs that bring you closer to God, that acquaint more with his sovereignty, his mercy, his grace.  I pray for my kiddos as they begin a new school year, and for each teacher and staff member that will cross their paths and shape their minds.  I pray for myself!  May I be equipped to handle the road ahead of me, both seen and unseen, with God's help.  May I be a instrument of His good and perfect will.  

And just in case it helps....may I also be able to get into those snake pants again some day soon.....

XOXO--Kelly

Blake's most recent snake encounter, a rattler he encountered at the deer lease.  Don't worry...no pants were harmed in the killing of this snake.  

    

We have a sink hole.

Not too long after we moved into our home two years ago, we discovered what appears to be a small-ish sink hole in our back yard.  It's about 4 feet deep and a foot wide at the top.  It's flagged, of course, so no boy falls in it, and we check it daily for any potentially curious dachshunds.  We've talked to the county, to plumbers, to the neighbor next door as we try to figure out what to do about it, and have attempted to fill it on two or three occasions only to have it slowly reappear again over time.  I fear until we figure out what's lacking in the ground underneath we will never successfully fill that hole.  

And so with our hearts....

As God did create us, He also created within us a need for Him, as the source of our salvation, as the wellspring of peace and guidance.  It's a "Jesus-shaped hole" as my good friend Craig likes to say, and it exists in each one of us.  You can feel it on any given day, the presence of that hole.  It's what twinges when we hear others hurl insults at one another.  It's what weeps when the news reports another tragic school shooting.  It's what keeps us from sleep at night when we are struggling at home or at work.

So as only we know how we try to fill that hole.  Some fixes are good....vacation, home improvement, a new hair style, working out.  Some are not....alcohol, drugs, pornography.  None are permanent.  None are everlasting.  The only fix for our Jesus-shaped holes is Jesus himself.

It occurs to me as my kids get older how many things the world offers them to try to satisfy their longings.  It's a phone one week and a video game the next.  It's this activity and that one.  It's a test score, a pair of shoes, a sleepover with a friend.  And while--like I said--so many of these things are not all bad on the surface, if the foundation is not in Jesus Christ--a hole will always be there.  And the less Jesus they are offered the more they will try to fill that hole with something else.

Offer them Jesus.
Let Jesus be offered to us.

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy. Psalm 94:18-19

It is the joy of knowing that Christ dwells within us, the joy of salvation in Him, the joy of doing his will that supports us and sustains us.  Whatever else fills our days and our moments, if it is not His joy that is the foundation we'll be dumping dirt into that hole for years to come.

In the meantime, we'll keep checking our sink hole for dachshunds.  And neighborhood cats.  And eventually probably small automobiles if we can't get this thing figured out pretty quickly.....

XOXO....Kelly





 

   

The voices in my head sometimes call me "Mom".

I don't know about you, but there are A LOT of different voices in my head.  Some of the voices are work-related.  Some of them have to do with school.  Some have to do with how I look.

There are neighbor voices.  Church voices.  Family voices.  Voices that tell me I've failed.  Voices that tell me I've succeeded.  Voices that tell me we're out of milk.

There's one voice that sounds just like my husband.  That's something they never tell you when you're getting ready to walk down the aisle!

Four of the voices move around a lot and look like this....

Just because there's a voice in your head doesn't mean it's necessarily troublesome, of course, though there are those.  But the reality is that, whatever the source, there is a lot of competition for our thoughts, and who we are, what we do has a lot to do with how these voices manifest themselves in our daily lives.  I was recently asked to do an inventory of my spiritual disciplines.  In other words, how do I connect each day to God's voice?  (There's nothing like doing an inventory of your spiritual disciplines to reinforce how much you're lacking said discipline.)  What I found was that I have taken holiness for granted in a big way.

You see, holiness is living in devotion to God.  Aligning yourself with His will and seeking it over and over and over again, in every facet of your life.  Holiness is not a given.  It does not come to us just because we love the Lord.  It does not come to us because we attend church.  It does not come to us because we are nice to others and live a good life.  It comes because we take time--intentional moments--to be with Him and listen for His voice.  It takes effort.  Repeated effort.  Over and over and over again kind of effort.

We sang through a great hymn today....an oldie but a goodie, if you will.  Take Time to Be Holy

1. Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
   Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
   Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
   Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
2. Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
   Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
   By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
   Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
3. Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
   And run not before Him, whatever betide.
   In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
   And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
4. Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
   Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
   Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
   Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.

I love some of the voices in my head, I really do.  Others I can live without.  But of all the voices in my head God's needs to be the loudest.  It needs to be the strongest.  It needs to be the voice against which all other voices are measured.

I know this will take effort on my part.  I must take the time to seek it.  I must take the time to maintain it!  A relationship with the Living God means constant pursuit.  But what I know of this kind of effort is that God always honors it.  When we take the time to listen for God's voice we can be assured we will hear it!

….Well, the voices in my head are telling me to get some sleep now.  Not before I pray over my day today, of course, and what lies ahead for tomorrow.  Like buying milk.  And toilet paper.  And I think we're out of eggs.  And the bathroom needs cleaned.  Good grief, these voices are bossy....

XOXO....Kelly  

     

 

When home is not a resting place...

I remember a season in my life a few years ago.  We were moving into a new home--trying to fix, pack and clean one while moving into the other.  I had just returned from a two-week trip out of the country.  Spring Break and Easter were nuzzled somewhere in the middle of it all on top of all sorts of spring-time goodness at the kids' school and extracurricular activities.

It was one of those seasons when I would wake up in the morning and first thing have a little panic as I tried to remember which day it was.  Every facet of our lives was busy...work, school, church, even home.  I remember feeling there was absolutely no place to just rest.  I jokingly asked my friend if I could come take a nap on her couch for a while because I was not actually responsible for anything in her house!    

We build our homes in the hopes that they would be a haven for us.  Home should be sacred a place, where we can unwind.  Where we can be real.  Where we can air our dirty laundry (literally!).  But inevitably home fails us from time to time.  Family strife.  Difficult phases of parenting.  Everything on the news (it's been a doozy here lately, hasn't it?).  Mud on the floor!  What do you do when home is not a place to rest??

I love what Ruth Chou Simons writes in her book Gracelaced...."A tidy home and sometimes a calm and quiet environment has often been my comfort--my shelter in the midst of crazy--messy seasons.  It was never meant to be."

Psalm 91:1-2 says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to the Lord, 'My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'"

We look for shelter and refuge in all kinds of places, things and people, but God's word reminds us that it is the shelter of Him--who is Most High and Almighty--where we will truly find rest, where we truly find home.  We cannot rely on our physical surroundings to bring us peace, no matter how lovely the couch cushions are!  (Incidentally my couch cushions smell like socks)

That season eventually passed for us.  We got moved in and the other house sold.  Summer came and we all enjoyed the break from school.  I began to remember what day it was again!  Seasons come and seasons go.  Some stay longer than others, both in good and bad ways.  The only constant we can expect is the true and solid refuge of God.

Take shelter there, friends, and you will find rest.

Out with the old....

Well, I reached the point this week where it was either replace the tile in my bathroom....or clean it.  I weighed all the options.  Spent a good amount of time on Pinterest studying the latest tile trends.  Watched several YouTube videos on replacing tile DIY.  In the end I decided it was probably less wasteful (of both time and money) to just clean the tile I already have.  Sigh....

It strikes me how quick I am to just replace things.  Shoes, bags, furniture, cars.  The ease with which we can shop for and acquire new things these days makes it all too easy to avoid putting much effort into the upkeep of anything.  Out with the old--or slightly used--and in with the new!  Sometimes it's a lack of know how on repair or maintenance.  Sometimes I'm just plain lazy.  But either way, there's a danger sometimes to looking to something new so fast, to taking the easy way out.  Danger because this attitude can bleed into other areas of our lives...

Did you know that relationships are hard work?  Like really hard work sometimes.  Family, friends, co-workers, neighbors.  Y'all, there are all sorts of opportunities for someone to get under your skin.  And when you live in a city the size of Houston with a population of somewhere over 2.5 million people (y'all go home now....we full) wouldn't it just be easier to find someone else to talk to?

But that's not how it works.  Scripture is full of references to the fellowship of believers, the image of all people working together to form one body.  The idea that we belong to each other, and in that we've got to tend to our relationships with one another.  

"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others." Romans 12:3-5

The foot cannot despise the hand and the body still make it.  There has to peace.  "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).  We have to invest, maintain, repair.  Even when it is hard.  Even when the world is saying it would be easier to walk away.  It goes beyond just forgiveness.  It speaks to God's design entire design for us, in community and in fellowship.

Are there relationships in your life need some maintenance?  Repair?  Complete restoration??

Father, we lift them up to you now.  Help us to see others with the same eyes and the same heart as you do.  When we are tempted to discard and walk away, give us the humility to turn instead to forgiveness.  Restore our friendships, marriages, families, communities, that we might live into the truth you have designed for us....that we belong to each other.  And, that in that, we would see you more clearly.  Amen.  

 

When you're good looking AND you know everything....

It starts at a young age, people professing authority on things they know nothing about.  Let me tell you, for example, some of the things that my own children (God bless them) are "experts" on....

1.  Former football players and team stats that occurred before they were born
2.  Wild animals
3.  Deadly diseases
4.  The automobile industry
5.  Foods from other countries
6.  President Trump's wall

They can't tell you how long they've been playing a video game, but they sure can weigh in on foreign affairs.  Yes, at the ripe ages of  11, 10, 8 and 5 my kids are seemingly experts on most everything.  Whether this comes from a place of great confidence, or simply the inability to say "I don't know" when asked a question, well...I don't know.  But to be sure, in this day and age of information overload and a less than objective media, add to your list of parenting do's the skill of pause and discernment.

Because you can be sure for every ounce of truth out there you're gonna have to wade through a whole bunch of poo to get to it.  And poo-wading is not easy.  It takes time and prayer and thoughtfulness.  And we do not live in a society that necessarily elevates those virtues.  We like answers that are quick and make us feel good and think less.  Who has time for more than that?  Best just to write/print/post/spout off/vote for whatever sounds good and convenient in the moment.  Right???

Christ spoke of false prophets.  "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  By their fruit you will recognize them...every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit."  Matthew 7:15, 16.

Fruit takes time.  Apples don't grow overnight and neither does consequence.  See, this is the trick of the devil.  He knows our impatience, our willingness to fill in a gap, our uneasiness with time and effort and conviction.  But we can't play the game on Satan's terms, only God's. 

In the absence of immediacy we must rely of truth.  God's truth.  We have to teach our children, and ourselves, that God's truth is the lens through which we see the rest of the world.  That what falls outside of that lens cannot and will not bear good fruit, despite what the short-term promise is.  We have to teach them to say "I don't know why, but God does" and rest in that trust.  That the right answer is not always easy, but that it is right.  And that loving one another is always an option.  And when we cling to His idea of truth, though we change, God does not.

What your false prophets don't see is the end of the story.  What they haven't held in their hands is the world, and all of its creation.  What they can not possibly know is everything that He does.  What they can't give you.....salvation through Jesus Christ, His son.

Pause.  Think.  Pray.  And when you speak, speak Truth.

XOXO....Kelly

Who you are...

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.

You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  

Psalm 139

I was reminded about something very important recently.... 

What others say about you does not change who you are.

What others think about you does not change who you are.

Whatever shortcomings you think you have...
Whatever your bank account looks like...
Whatever your dress size is...

...God knows who you are.

He knows who He created you to be.  He knows exactly what His glory looks like working in you.  He has known you from the beginning of time, every fiber of your being.  No one has the power to forfeit that in you.  No one.

When we can walk forward without guilt or fear or shame we can honor God's creation in the very best way.  We can leave the power of who we are--and whose we are--in the hands of the Almighty Father.  And make no mistake about it--you are His.

XOXO...Kelly