Have you ever wanted something so bad that everyone around you knew you wanted it. Longed for it. Cried for it. And even still it was out of reach.


I love the story of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. Hannah’s is a story of hope, a story of the trustworthiness of God. A story of endurance. A story of sacrifice and a story of renewal. 


Let’s get a little backstory…


Hannah was one of two of Elkanah’s wives. She had no children, while Peninnah (wife #2) had children. Back in that day, having children brought a sense of pride. It was what you did. It was who you were and for some, like Hannah, who you weren’t.


Throughout the chapter we hear about how much Hannah struggled. How much Hannah was belittled and the hurt that she felt for wanting something so badly and it being so far out of reach. So much so that it kept her up up night. It affected her sleep and eating habits. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that this struggle permeated every aspect of her life.


Have you ever heard the saying that “Prayer is the least that I can do”? Can I be honest? I hate that saying… Prayer is not the least we can do. It is the most we can do. Don’t get me wrong, there are usually action steps that we can and have to take. But why do we, why do I, too often exhaust all of our physical and natural options before simply taking it to God first?


In verse 9 of that same chapter Hannah stands up one night after dinner and prayed, wept, cried out to the Lord asking for a son and promising to submit him to a life dedicated to the service of Lord.


In this moment of desperation, Hannah went to God right where she was at. Not put together with pretty words and a calm demeanor. As a matter fact she was in such a state that Eli actually reprimanded her for being drunk. 


 “…I was pouring out my soul to the Lord…”


That’s what Hannah told Eli. She told him that she was not drunk, she was pouring out her soul to the Lord.


When Hannah told Eli what she was doing Eli then told her to “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of Him.” The Bible says that Hannah went away, ate something and her face was no longer downcast. 


I have to believe that Hannah went away believing that God saw her right where she was at. God heard her and she had hope.


At that point in time, Hannah’s situation hadn’t changed. There has only been one miraculous conception and her name didn’t start with Hannah. Even still, she went back home surrendering her heart to God and trusting that, at some point, God was going to fulfill her desire. The thing was, she had to be willing to give it to our Father even when it hurt, even when she didn’t understand. She needed to be willing to let Him show her His faithfulness.


If you read on you will find that Hannah went on to have a boy and she dedicated him to the Lord’s service. She gave up the very thing she desired most to give God the glory.


Lord, burn away the parts of me that don’t look like You, that my character can stand.


Hannah got her promise just like the prophet said she would. And just like she said she would she dedicated Samuel to the service of the Lord and the Lord blessed her. 


When Hannah went in to pour out her soul to the Lord she was not concerned with what people would say or what they would think. She surrendered all. She gave all. We can only do that once we have received an understanding of the character and nature of our loving Father.


I pray that today, wherever we are, whether we are on the mountain top or in the valley, we take time to pour out our soul to the Lord. I pray that we submit to God anytime we don’t understand. I pray that we build our endurance. I pray that we continuously choose to go to God when we are burdened and when we are blessed. I pray that we surrender to God’s promises easily and trustingly knowing that He’s working all things for the good of those who love Him. I pray that we better understand the character and nature of God and who we are to Him. 


Love you Sis,

Since we belong to the day, we must be clearheaded by placing the breast plate of faith and love over our hearts, and a helmet of the hope of salvation over our thoughts. 
1 Thessalonians 5:8


In the Aramaic it can be translated “be clearheaded in our vision as we are deployed on the battlefield for faithfulness and love, and set apart with the shield of the hope of everlasting life.”


The Lord has had me in 1 Thessalonians 5 for a good part of the new year as I pray and ask for my word for the year. And even though I do not have it yet I can not shake this nudge. I don’t quite understand the nudge fully the closest thing I can get to words are “remember/rejoice” and even those don’t fully resonate. 


"For God has not destined us for wrath but to possess salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One." 
1 Thessalonians 5:9



Do you realize that God chose you? You are not second best. You are not the last one to be picked at recess. YOU are the one He wants. And He is not waiting for you and I to fail. No, God is waiting for us to succeed. To fully step into all that He has blessed us with. To fully receive the fact that once we receive Jesus we are then adopted into His family as children, His children.


As I pray and meditate on what I am believing, striving, reaching for this coming year, I cannot help but look back at this past year. I had my fair share of trials and struggles and “seriously” moments through out the year. But the reality is those were not the highlights, the things I remembered first or even right away. 
Without being too “churchy” the main topic throughout the past year was “Wow, God”. 


If hindsight is 20/20 then I want to look back and remember. I want to be able to look back and see how my God made a way where there was no way. How God choose someone like me to show His incredible, overwhelming love. How God chose to restore relationships, mend heartache, heal sick, forgive, and mold, grow, and develop me and my family along the way through the good and the bad.


God is always good. He is never not good. And if we let Him, God will never waste a situation. He works ALL things for the good of those who love Him.


"…because of this, encourage the hearts of your fellow believers and support one another, just as you have already been doing."
1 Thessalonians 5:11



Our testimony, our life is supposed to be an encouragement to us and to those around us. Our lives are supposed to be a reflection of the Light, His Light. So we remember. We lean in and we share with others what He has done. And it bring encouragement to both us and them. It leads us into excited anticipation and expectation. 


God is NOT done with YOU yet! He wants more. He want to share with you more. In Ephesians it says that every spiritual blessings has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from the Father. There is so much more our Father has to offer. There is so much more He wants to do in and through you, His child.


"Let joy be your continual feast. Make your life a prayer. And in the midst of everything be always giving thanks, for this is God’s perfect plan for you in Christ Jesus."
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18



I want to look back and see that hindsight and rejoice seeing how God used every part. Even the really uncomfortable parts. Even the growing parts. I want to look back and see that...

"The One who calls you(me) by name is trustworthy and will thoroughly complete His work in you(me)."
1 Thessalonians 5:22
​

I want to remember what He has done for me and rejoice for what He is and will do. And I want to invite Him to do just that. I want Him to help me look more like Jesus so that by the end of 2022 more people will see Him through me.


It’s not about me. It’s ALL about Him. 


Love Ya!
Alexandria

Awake my soul and sing
Sing His praise aloud
​Sing His praise aloud

As I sit here thinking about what to write that song Awake My Soul by Hillsong is playing in my head like a tune that won’t leave. So not knowing what else to do, I decided to do something a little different and set my words down and just worship to that song.

I love the words in it. “Where we hear praises He hears faith.” It’s the sound of our prayers and our praises that moves Him. It stirs the heart of our Father and “where stood a wall now stands away”.
When we are tired and exhausted physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually we can turn and remember that our God still moves mountains. Our voice, our heart, our actions moves the heart of our God.

The same God who created the universe is moved by the sound of our voice.

Can we just let that sink in for a moment.

We all have amazingly crazy busy lives. Last week Lyndsay spoke about doing everything unto the Lord. Big or small focusing our efforts as a ministry to God. She spoke about how shifting her perspective and attitude towards God in all things and how it changed not only her, but the atmosphere in her home. WOW!

I have to admit that that is something I always strive for. A home where people can let their guards down. Where they can plop down on a seat and be overwhelmed with peace and comfort. Where the weight of their day just melts under the Presence of the Father and His grace. That is the kind of atmosphere I want to have in my home.

That kind of atmosphere doesn’t happen by accident. It is definitely not something that just happens. LOL If only. It takes us choosing to praise when we don’t feel like it. It takes us choosing faith over fear.

I strive for it, I don’t always have it. Sometimes I do get wrapped up in my to-do, family time, kids school and sports, and work. Sometimes I forget where my focus is supposed to be. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in the daily life tasks that I exhaust myself to get them done. And let me tell you, when that happens there is not much peace in my home.

When that happens I find it very hard to “realign” myself with the right who and why. I’m tired and exhausted and I just don’t have anything left to give. But then, when I finally decide that I’ve had enough and I can’t do it anymore and there is nothing left to lose I praise.

Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. Psalms 54:4

If you are feeling tired and weak, reach out to God. He is waiting to hear your voice. He is ready to move at the sound of your faith. Will you let Him?
*Awake My Soul Hillsong Worship CCLI 7134998

Today my husband and I celebrate 13 years of marriage. Wow. 13 years. I simply can not believe I am old enough to say that despite my oldest’s constant reminders of my “maturity” LOL. 

13 years of laughs, tears, struggles, victory, patience and perseverance. 13 years of career changes, ministry, moves, and family life. I look back on our life together and I smile. Don’t get me wrong, our life was and is not always rainbows and cinnamon rolls. We have had times where we felt like giving up. Where we felt like giving in. Yet we chose to stay. There are things that we have gone through that we would not wish on anyone, and even still we would not change a thing. 

Every step God has used. Every step God has redeemed. 

I’m a doer. It is very easy and sometimes even typical for me to fill up my (our) day with stuff to accomplish or do. Sometimes it’s as simple as getting chores done or our Goer (RV) ready, or taking the kids to a local fun center or jump place, going over to a friend or family members house.  My love language is acts of service so for me doing the “to-do list” is a way that I receive love, especially if we are doing it together.

But…

My husband and my children’s love languages are so far from accomplishing a “task” together that for them it leaves them exhausted, overworked and maybe even a little unloved at times. I cannot effectively show them love unless I begin speaking and acting in their love languages. 

Back a few years ago, my husband and I were in marriage counseling, (yes, that’s right, it is not a dirty word) and I have never forgotten the words our counselor told us. He asked each of us ‘How much do you love your spouse?’ Of course our automatic reply was ‘With all that I have, my whole heart.’ You know what he told us?!? “No, actually you don’t. You simply love them the most you know how.” 

(Insert mind-blown emoji) That simple statement brought with it so much hope and peace and assurance. I could love more and feel more loved? That was a thing? We had room to not only heal, but to grow even closer still? To know each other more intimately?

Can I let you in on a little secret? Spoiler alert: We could not have done it on our own. We had to make a conscious effort to each seek God in our individual lives and you know what happened? In seeking God we drew closer to each other. All these years later we have found that sometimes we need to slow down. Sometimes we need to stop doing the daily tasks and choose to see each other. More than just unload how our day was after dinner.

We have to ask the hard questions and seek the uncomfortable answers and allow each other the time to do just that.

Please don’t hear what I am not saying, I do not believe that all the familiar is a bad thing. Familiar can be amazing. My husband is my person and as such he knows me like nobody else. He sees my crazy. He sees my sorrow. He sees my joy. And I let him see it because I feel safe with him. And still there is always so much more for us. There is always a deeper level of intimacy to be had, whether with your spouse, your children, or your Heavenly Father. We just have to look for it and then be willing to receive it.

God built us for godly-relationships. We were made to be known, truly known. We were made in the image of a triune God. The same God who knew everyday of our lives before we were ever born. We were never meant to be alone. We don’t have to look very far in the Bible to find that out.

Regardless of where you are at in your walk in life today, whether you are a wife, a mother, a daughter and friend I pray that you take the time to invest. Invest in your relationship with God. Invest in your relationships with the people that God has placed in your life. 


Love you Sis! 

Alexandria


P.S.
Y’all pray for my husband, because under my nice put together face is probably the most obnoxious person you have ever met. 13 YEARS!!!

There were two runners in a race. Each runner was given the instructions of where to finish farther down the beach. The runners were informed that they would not be judged on how quickly they got to the finish line, but rather they would be judged on who’s line of footprints were the straightest from starting point to finish line. 


If you grew up in the mid-nineties to early 2000’s you are sure to have seen or heard this very illustration at some point and know how it ends. 


The starting gun shot goes off, runner one carefully takes a gentle step on to the sand with her left foot followed by a precise step of her right foot placed toe to heel making sure to be in alignment with her left foot. Then again, another step being careful to stay as straight as possible and continued down the beach to the finish line in the same fashion. Cautiously, placing one foot in front of the other painfully aware of how straight her footprints were going to be all the while determining her next step by the alignment of the previous steps, looking up occasionally and aiming for the finish line accordingly.


Runner number two, hears the starting gun shot and without hesitation looks up, locks eyes with her target, the finish line, and runs… 


At the end of the story we come to find out that the runner who carefully and precisely measured her steps ended up swerving and weaving all over the beach before she made it to the finish line. Her line looked more like a traveling snake than a line at all. She was so focused on the tiny steps she lost track of the big picture. She would lose sight of her final destination and instead measured her success from each individual step. 


But runner 2…
She was so focused on her destination, her finish line that her path was completely straight… 


Have you ever heard the phrase “If you aim for nowhere, nowhere is where you will go.”?


I love that illustration of the runners above. I believe that it brings so much clarity and hope to my soul when I remember it. I don’t know about you, but there are definitely times throughout my life I can look back (sometimes I don’t have to look very far, ha) where I may have been a little to focused on the “things” around me and not had my eyes so perfectly locked with Jesus. I allowed the busyness, chaos or just plain life around me distract me from the very things I knew God was wanting me to focus on. Those things were not inherently bad, sometimes those “things” were my family, my business, my volunteer hours or time spent at church, cleaning, cooking, kids activities, you name it. The problem wasn’t so much what I was doing, it was that I had allowed myself to drift my focus from where it should have been, over to the checklist of my to-dos.  I was too focused on those single steps in my life when I should have just lifted my eyes and stayed focused on my target, my Jesus. 


Have you ever known those people that even with all chaos, crazy schedules or even the unknown surrounding them, they are still at total peace? You know the ones I mean, they are genuinely at peace, not shaken or stirred easily. Maybe there has even been a time in your life where that was you. If that was ever you, I would like to invite you to look back and ask yourself, ‘Where was my focus?’ 


How many times do we get so wrapped up in making sure that those individual tasks are accomplished, correct and completed that we miss our mark and have to  back track and redirect ourselves?
​
How many times do we seek and ask God what He would like us to be doing, He gives us a direction and then off we go. Often times we get so focused on being a human doing instead of being a human being? Um, guilty…


You know the really amazing things about those two runners? They both still made it to the finish line. They both ended up where they were supposed to be. There was no shame in the first runner having to realign to make it to the end. They did it. 


That is the amazing thing about God our Father is He is always ready to help us realign when we look up. In fact, I believe He is calling out, trying to get us to look up to help us to know to realign ourselves. There is no shame. No guilt. Just love.


Is there something you need to look up from today? Do you feel the Father trying to get you attention today? Look up sis. Keep going. You can trust Him. Look up.


Love you!


Alexandria

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You know how sometimes you just can’t. We just can’t do anything right. We miss appointments. We miss communication. We forget to do something. Maybe it is because recent our life has been upside down and turned around. Maybe we have over committed. Maybe things have changed completely and totally out of our control. Either way at some point, I think most of us can relate to this on some level. 


If and/or when it happens in my life, I find it is really easy for me as woman to slip into the mindset of disappointment. It can make us feel like we are not enough, like we will never be enough. Like we have somehow failed and all of a sudden all of our accomplishments, all of our truth, all of how God sees us goes right out the window.


Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we so easily let the enemy come in with lies and make room for them while we lock our God given truths of who we are away? And we begin to allow our losses, our pain, our struggles to dictate where we are, how we act, and what we do. It seems that God is far and out of reach. 


1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says,
"Rejoice Always
Pray Continually
Give Thanks In All Circumstances"


At our church for the last year or so we have been very intentional about one thing.
Everything is done in proximity. Abiding. Presence. Abiding in and with the Father, Jesus and Holy Spirit.


You see everything good in the Kingdom comes from proximity. It comes from being close to the Father. Not from good works, not even god-works (Matthew 7:21-23). It comes from nearness to the God who adopted us when we received Him. The more we are with the Father, the more fully we know we are the daughter, His daughter. We are not slaves; we are children. Let that sink in…


We are His daughters. He is our Father. We have been completely and totally adopted into His family when we accept Jesus.


But those who embrace Him and took hold of His name He gave authority to become the children of God!- John 1:12(TPT)




I love the phrasing here. Can we sit on that for a moment…


…those who embrace Him…took hold of His name…




Embrace can only happen within proximity. We can only embrace someone if we are close to them. Close enough to hold. How often am I that close to God?


So close that I can hear His heart beat. So close that I begin to look like Him.


(Have you ever seen those photos when people look like their pets?LOL) 


I want to look more and more like my Daddy. The one who breathed out the stars. The one who created me in wonder. Who knows every strand on my head. So I have to get close. I have to lean in. I have be so full of God, so close that it leaves no room for the lies of the enemy. 


I am blessed and surrounded by amazing women in my church and my tribe. Women who speak their relationship with the Father not with their words, but by their actions. I am surrounded by women that I get to witness come closer and closer to the Father with every passing day. 


I have a tribe of women around me that regardless of what is going on in their lives they are actively pursuing the Father. They have tasted what it is to be a daughter of the King and they are shaking off the lies and titles that they have had placed on their lives by themselves and others around them. 


These amazing women are not afraid to shed the I am “highly blessed and favored” in the public and just be real. Just be open and honest about where they are in that moment. 


These woman have had hurts, been hurt, done the hurting, and with everyday they release more of that hurt and loss and receive more of the Father’s truth about who they are. These women are real with where they are at. They do not fear it. They do not dwell in it. Instead they walk it to the cross and lay it down. 


We will never be able to receive what God has for us if we are not first willing to lay down our hurts, our losses, our struggles, and open our arms to our Good Good Father. 


Embrace Him. He WILL embrace you! And I will promise you that it will be better than you could ever imagine. 


In Matthew 7:11 it says, 
"If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?”


I was amazingly blessed growing up with a step-father who loved me as his own. He was and is an incredible role-model who gave and showed me love and still does to this day everyday. He raised me in such a way that Matthew 7:11 is not hard for me to believe, but instead quite easy. I can trust that Jesus meant what He said. That Father God is a Good loving Father.


I understand that not everyone has had that same childhood… but sis… please take that chance… 


Give Father a chance to right the wrongs and breathe life and love into your world. To restore what the enemy has taken. 


Embrace Him and let Him embrace you. 


Who told you ‘you were not enough’? 
The Father says “YOU, you daughter have always been enough for Me.”


He just wants us. He just wants you.


Beautiful daughter, give Him a chance. It may not be what you think it should or look how you think it would, but give it to Him and He WILL make something good for you. Come close. Draw near. Abide. Embrace.


Love you!


Alexandria
​

Have you ever felt stuck? Not really sure where you are going or what you are supposed to be doing? Maybe, you have a vision of the end point or have a particular goal in mind. I did. I had been given the vision. This incredibly, scary, intimidating, only God-capable, impossible on my own vision. 


I see this incredible end point that is so strong and real it is almost tangible. At any given moment I could reach out and grab it. It is both exciting and terrifying at the same time. Anytime I think about it, there is an energy and excitement deep in my spirit like I have never felt before. When I think about it, everything in me says YES! This is it! This is what I was made for! 


And at the same time with every passing month, year, season it is almost as if my shoulders slouch farther and farther toward the ground as if carrying a heavy weight. The weight of this dream seeming harder and harder and further and further to reach. Instead of me coming closer to the goal, the goal is moving father and farther away from where I am. “I cannot do this, what am I thinking.” “There is no way.” “Some dreams aren’t meant to come true.” “Who do you think you are?”


And it was with that last lie of the enemy that I snap out of all of it. 


I know who I am. I am who I AM says that I am. 
I am treasured. 
I am His vessel. 


I am His child.


I had a pretty spectacular role model when it comes to displaying the love of the Father. I always knew in my knower that I was loved unconditionally by my father. I think that is one of the reasons why I am able to believe scripture so easily when it says,


If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask Him?”
                                    Matthew 7:11[TPT]


I know my Father’s heart. I know He is waiting for me to succeed not to fail. I know that if the vision, dream, goal, achievement that I am seeing or looking for was given by Him, He will make a way, and I absolutely have a part to play in making that a reality. 


Ok. Now we have come full circle. Let’s catch up. I (we) have a goal, dream, vision (fill in your blank here). We doubt and listen to the enemies lies. We snap back out of it, realizing that NOTHING is impossible for God and when we ask in His will He does not hold back.


But How?


I think that we as women are really good at talking our way around things sometimes. “I can’t do that now because I have to much to do already.” “I will work on this when things slow down.” “I will start when I find THE one.” “I will get active about this when the kids are in school.” “No, when they're out of school and living on their own.”…


Have you ever been guilty of procrastination? I have. 


I have these really wonderful ladies in my life, let’s call them God-Mother, they mentor me and speak to any and every part of my life in a very real way. Recently I was asked about my dream, my plans for the future and what it looked like, sounded like and felt like.
After digging for a very short while we came to realize that even though this plan was believed to be so tangible, I really had no idea what it was… or even how to figure it out.


And then…


The flood-gates opened. 


Ever hear that saying “If your aiming for nowhere, nowhere is where you will end up.”?

Well I’m not going nowhere any more.


Want to know how I got unstuck? Want to know if it will help you? (Yes, it can and will)


I asked questions. First, I asked those kind-hearted, truth spewing God-Mothers of mine. 
I am both embarrassed and thankful for my first question, you ready for it?


“What are the questions I should be asking?”


I think I shocked one of my Mothers when I asked that question. It was honest though. I didn’t even have a starting point. I felt overwhelmed and somehow just expected that one day God would drop this crazy dream into a reality and it would simply be placed in my lap, no work necessary on my part to receive it. Ok. Ok. I knew that that was not a reality, and still that is how I treated this incredible dream.


As humans we have been trained for so long to show, or speak what we know out of pride that I believe some of us (many of us) have lost the art of the question. We get so caught up in making sure that people know that we are smart and sensitive and kind and strong that it becomes so easy for us to lose sight of what really matters. I have some loving ladies in my tribe though and we have begun helping each other to re-train our minds to dig deeper with questions.


So that’s where I started… 


We came up with a list of questions that I would later go home with and sit down with Holy Spirit and do some frame work and vision casting.


I sat down, ready with paper and pen and prayed and read and asked God to open my eyes and ears and heart to what He was trying to speak to me. As I imagined I wrote everything down. And IT WAS AMAZING! He actually showed up!


My paper started like this…


Write down what you see?




Who’s the audience?




What would a typical day look like?




What would the audience output be?




What is one active step I can take right now?


My paper ended covered in notes. All because of those starter questions. Some of those questions are a little more pointed toward my dream, but they helped me to find a new starting point. Before I was stuck. Paralyzed by what I expected to happen. I keep hearing in my head the phrase from Big Hero 6, “Look for a new angle.” In the movie the young heroes are literally stuck, about to lose and someone yells out “Look for a new angle!” and their mindsets change. They are able to pause for a moment, ask a question of themselves, and shift their thinking and get out of their trouble and later defeat the villain. 


Sometimes all we need is a new perspective. If you're stuck this morning, in any area of your life, I would just like to invite you to sit with your Father God, who always wants to give you good gifts and ask Him questions. AND, expect answers. Did you know that He actually wants to talk to you? That’s why He sent His Son after all. 


Maybe you have a dream that is not quite reachable on your own. Or maybe you have no idea and you are stuck thinking this is as good as it gets. 


Sit down. Ask Father God “What do You see for me?”


It doesn’t matter what you ask. There are no wrong questions when you talk with the one who loves you most. He is not looking for you to have all the answers. He is just looking for you to come. He is looking for you to just ask. He wants to talk with you today.


Love you sis,


Alexandria

As we get into the car exhausted from a long day with family and kids, I look at my husband and sigh. I remembered I still had a blog to write tonight… 


As we drive home he asks about the topic, I laugh and say, “Rest.” 


His response simply, a giggle and the hushed words, “That’s ironic.” 


I laugh as I write this because, rest, to anyone looking at my life from the outside, would seem like a foreign word. In this crazy chaotic time of life there is no time for rest. As a matter of fact it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that previous to this last week, rest was NO WHERE on my radar!


This morning as I was pondering what I would be writing about I thought, ‘Rest, oh a nap would be so good right now.’ Now naps, naps are good and sometimes we even need to refresh our physical bodies and we can do that through naps but, a nap was not what I needed. 


The rest that I needed was a rest from the expectations. I needed a rest from the to-dos of the day, week, month, year. I needed to let my guard down and just be. I needed to lay down what had to be done to do what needed to be done. Luckily, I know just how to do that. Or rather, I know just where to get it. 


In Psalms 23:5-6 [MSG emphasis added] it says,
 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing. Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I’m back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.


That was it! All I had to do was come to the table. All I had to do was sit with my Father and I was at rest. 


I went to the table. I took the time in the middle of my business and sat at His table… My table… the one God specially made for me and in that moment God revived me. I found rest in Him. I found my peace in Him. There was no more striving or accomplishing. Exhaustion was a thing of the past. Stress seemed as though it just melted away. I seemed as if I was wrapped in the Father’s arms.


 All of my chaos didn’t disappear, but it took a backseat. I still had a list of to-dos. I still had obligations and commitments, but those mountains that I was facing just a moment ago,  that were exhausting just thinking about, no longer looked unattainable or impossible.


I was refreshed. I was renewed. I was rested.


When we take the time to spend with the Lord we realign our thoughts with His and He is so good to remind us that nothing is impossible with Him. No matter how big or small, nothing is to much. He reminds us that He is ours and we are His and that Father God really wants to be with us  every step of the way in every moment of our lives. 


It is not a long list of steps to find your rest in the season that you are in. We don’t have to follow steps A-Z until we attain total rest. Instead, the Father made is so that  we always have an open invitation to go to the Lord’s table and find rest, always. He never leaves us hanging. We don’t need a reservation for this meal. We simply show up. 


Sometimes there are seasons of rest in our lives where we can spend those long periods of time in the day where you just soak in the Lord and sit and read His word or worship for hours on end everyday. (That is not the season that I am in. LOL) And for some of us our seasons of rest in the Lord are those quiet couple of moments you get to have with the Lord in the morning before the rest of your family is up or you have to get to work. Sometimes it’s in the quiet moments of the night. Maybe, just maybe it is in those special moments where you are around family and friends, and maybe sometimes it is when we are on a lonely drive. 


Either way, regardless of your season of life the Father always welcomes us to come to Him and find our rest. I invite you into that moment with the Father right now. Right where you are at.
Whether you are at work or home, alone or in a crowed room, there is no place the Father won’t want to meet you. (Insert awkward shower or bathroom moments here. You know who you are (-; ) It only takes a moment. Let Him refresh and revive you and give you rest. 


Love YOU!


Alex

Being a leader? What does that even mean?


Over the last year or so I believe God has been shifting and growing my perspective of leadership. Leadership not only in ministry and in the work place, but also, leadership within my own home. 


You see for a very long time I thought that there were two different types of leaders. Leaders who were out front taking charge, you know the ones. The ones who always seem to have all the information and all the answers and direction. And then there were the more background style leaders. The leaders who make sure that no one gets left behind. This leader was perfectly described in a meme that went around a few years back that showed the formation of wolves and that the older and baby wolves were up front and set the pace and then the protectors and so on and so forth and then at the end of the pack were the Alpha leaders making sure everyone was protected and no one was left behind. 


Those two styles were how I viewed good leaders. One was not better than the other, it was just that they each had their own redeeming qualities, if you will. 


I read a statement recently that said, “Great leaders lead from the inside out.” And it challenged my view of leadership.


I feel like I hear the statement, "You can’t lead on empty," so much that it has almost become cliché. I hear it and I automatically agree with it, but in my mind I just go, "Yeah yeah I’m good though. No problems here. All is good in this neighborhood. (Insert winky face and two thumbs up.)" When, in reality, I’m just simply keeping everything from crumbling down. 
Sometimes I don’t even realize it. I’m too close to see the damage that I have done as a leader due to me leaking my junk on those around me. 


Faith does not deny a problem's existence, faith denies the problem a place of influence.


You see, being a leader has nothing to do with having our ducks all in a row or having the right answers and directions all the time. That is just unrealistic. 


Even Jesus did not have all the answers to the demands of the people himself and he was fully God and fully man. He said in John 5:19 “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He only does what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does."


Jesus only took his cues from God.


When we look at Jesus, even most non-christians can agree that Jesus had some definite leadership qualities. Jesus led all kinds of people and he led well. 
All throughout the gospels we see people following Jesus, even when he was trying to withdraw to his core group of people. I don’t know how many times I have read the phrase "they withdrew by themselves to a town… but the crowds learned and followed…" or something along those lines. 


And still Jesus waited for his cues from the Father.
Even Jesus was not controlled by the demand of the people only by response to the Father.


Jesus knew the importance of not “leading on empty” better than anyone in the world. But what was it about Jesus that drew people in? That made him a Great leader in every season of his life? (Other than the obvious answer of Him being the Son of God…)


The Lord has been showing me that becoming a great leader is not linked to an experience or calling, rather it’s linked to the overflow we create around us. It’s linked to what we are leaking.


We leak on those we come into contact with… Good or bad.


We have to live a life filled with the Spirit of God in order to lead others into having that experience with the Father. A true right relationship with God.


It is not enough to lead having only had the corporate experience with God. We must first have that closed room, personal time with Jesus and Holy Spirit to effectively lead people in His presence whether we are at work, church, home or the grocery store. 


In order to lead well, to lead the way that Jesus did doing only what the Father said, we must be first willing to sit with Jesus. We must be willing to surrender. We must be wiling to give our time to hear and see and know what God is wanting to do. We must surrender our embarrassment when it comes to the who, what, when, where, and why of what God is telling us to do.


When the crowds came to Jesus he did not say, "Ok give me a second I need to pray a long prayer to see what the Father wants to do."
No. Jesus was prayed up long before the crowds ever arrived. He had already invited the Father into His day to day activities. He had spent the time sitting with the Father. And what the crowds were experiencing was simply the overflow of that time with the Father.


Have you ever being in a place where someone walks into the room and all of a sudden everything feels very exhausting, sad, or even angry?  Or, or maybe the opposite, someone walks into the room and it feels like the party is just beginning? We call those people thermostats. They can change  the “temperature” of the room. Whatever mood that person walks into the room with they leak on the other people in the room thus changing the mood of those in the room. 


When we consistently are spending our time sitting with Jesus he begins to leak on us and we in turn get to leak on those around us. It’s in the overflow. That’s how Jesus led. That is what we should be aiming for in every area of our lives. Leading from the overflow.


We are all called to lead one way or another. Some in our work places and some in our homes. Regardless where we lead, how we lead is going to determine who we lead.  So let’s lead well. Let’s strive to mirror the One who gave us everything, 


My pastor (John Poundstone) has a saying that goes like this,
“Transformed minds transform people. Transformed people transform families and groups. 
Transformed families and groups transform cities and transformed cities transform nations.”


Leading from the overflow.


Let’s be women who shake up our understanding of leadership and follow Father God’s leading first and always. 


Love you ladies,
Daughter of the King!