Yesterday was a rough day.

It started out with me waking up at 4:30 in the morning with a terrible headache.

I get a bad headache a couple of times a month usually, and they usually last a couple of days. Typically I can take 1 excedrine, or use a little peppermint oil and it goes away. I have tried all sorts of things for headaches over the years and found many options ineffective.

So when I woke yesterday I took 1 pill and went back to bed for an hour and thought when I got up it would be gone.

But it wasn’t and it was really bad. Another pill, some oil, some Ibuprophen…massaging my temples. Nothing was working.

I reached out to a group of friends that was going to be meeting over the lunch hour to pray for our God-sized Dream team. Each Tuesday several women gather over Google Hangout and pray for the team. It is such a gift to have people praying for you and there is power when they are gathered.

I asked for prayer for my headache. And then forgot that I had even made the prayer request.

Over lunch I noticed that the headache just stopped. I figured that the meds must have finally kicked in. But it was gone and honestly it didn’t return for the rest of the day.  This isn’t typical for me.  When I get a bad headache like this it will come back, it will last into the evening, it will be there in the morning when I wake up. For at least 2 days, sometimes 3.

Last night I got a boxer from my friend Christine and in it she reminded me that they prayed for my headache….at approximately 1:45 EST. I was having lunch at that exact time (CST)….

During the exact moments that my dear sisters were lifting me up in prayer I was finally feeling relief.

When Christine left that message I just had chills.

He hears our prayers. No they aren’t always answered in the time frame that we would hope…or even with the answer we are looking for. But sometimes we see an immediate answer….and yesterday was one of those times.

I am just so grateful.

Grateful that I have faithful friends that are willing to stand in the gap for me and lift me up in prayer.

Grateful that God loves me enough to hear and respond to even the little things like a bad headache.

I am not sure where you find yourself this morning….struggling with a bad headache, or maybe something even bigger.

I want you to hear just this one thing today – God hears your prayers, even the little things. He hears them. It is worth our time to keep lifting them up. And when we see answers – share it with others!

Give God the credit for how He loves us!

Last night I jumped on our FB group page to thank the women who prayed for being faithful. We need to be faithful in the praying, but also faithful in the praising of God when we see the answers come!

God, thank you. Thank you for hearing, for healing and for loving me so much. Even in the little things. I am awake this morning pain free and praising You and grateful for my faithful sisters who stand in the gap for me.

Do you have a prayer need that I can be praying about today? Please leave them in the comments and I will be lifting you up in prayer today!!

Joining my dear friend Holley in her #2014EncouragementChallenge. Sharing words of encouragement and hope each week! We’d love for you to join in on the fun!!

Photo Credit: Zach Alexander

We are in the season of Lent…anticipating the Easter celebration that will come in a few weeks, the culmination of the Christ story, the fulfillment of God’s promises.

But are we living out that gift of life that was given to us on a daily basis?

We are studying Revelation in church right now and it is very interesting and scary stuff. Scary for those that will be left behind. We see in greater detail God’s wrath on a fallen world.

But still there is hope in the story.

God, in His loving mercy, sent His only Son as a way out. Payment for our sins. God wants all to know Him and accept this gift of grace.

But do we live in that grace?

I have been a believer for a long time. I have also had a very skewed view of what that means. I am a failure at being a good Christian most days.  I am not kind and loving with my family at times, I can talk about faith but don’t always live it out well, I am a hypocrite, 100%.

So who am I to stand here, writing about the grace and mercy of God?!

Those are lies that the enemy whispers to me often. Do you hear them as well?

Our pastor shared something at the end of his sermon on Sunday that really struck a chord in me and I just felt like I needed to share it here today. Maybe you find yourself in this very place as well….

As Christians we often hold ourselves to a kind of “to-do” list to keep us saved. Get up early for prayer time or Bible study, pray pray pray, go to church…etc.

All of these things are great. They keep us in communication with God, help build that personal relationship with Him that He so desires.

But it doesn’t keep us saved.

Christ’s shedding of blood on the cross is what was the ultimate payment, the covering we all need to remain in the presence of God for eternity.

I accepted this gift, and committed to walking in relationship with God but what happens on those days that I really need to sleep in and skip my quiet time? What about those times that I forget to pray for my husband and children? Or those times that I am selfish and ungrateful?

How could God possibly love a sinner like me?

And THAT is the point friends….

He doesn’t love us any less when we aren’t playing the Christian “part” to perfection!

God loved me so much (knowing EVERY sin that I would commit) that before I was even born He sacrificed His ONLY Son to die a painful and unimaginable death on a cross, so that the shedding of blood would be an eternal covering for me, if I would just accept the gift.

How powerful is that?!

It isn’t what I do, or blog about, or how often I get up and do a BIble study….He doesn’t love me for those reasons….and He doesn’t love me less in those times that I fail.

God loves unconditionally.

I can’t even fully grasp what that means because as a human, and a failure, I don’t know how to love unconditionally…I put conditions on my love all the time – even if I am not trying to do so….I think a hint of it is always there.

But God, in His great grace, pours out His love on us no matter what!

We should be walking in freedom friends!

Accepting this gift for what it is. A love offering from a God that cares more for us than we can even imagine. I am not going to loose His love when I fail…no, I already have His heart 100%. And so do you.

So start living in that redemption. It is your free gift to accept. And stop believing the lies that because you fail, that you have lost God’s favor. Your failures are the exact reason we have the cross.

A beautiful song the represents this is “You Love Me Anyway” by Sidewalk Prophets. Let the words fill your soul with hope today and walk in freedom because He loves you!

I am joining Holley for her #2014EncouragementChallenge. If you need some encouragement jump on over here and join the fun!

Photo Credit: www.ForestWander.com

My dad has been to Africa several times for various mission trips. Several years ago he brought back the African buffalo figurine picture above. I was dusting our shelves at the office tonight and saw this and was reminded of this story.

During his last trip there he told us that he saw it and he thought of my husband. (Ok not in that way…stick with me here!) 🙂

At the time Dominic and I had been through some really tough years. TOUGH years that almost broke us….but as we started to walk in faith a little we found ourself surrounded by a group of friends that were a huge support and impact on us.

We spent time with these friends each week, found encouragement, learned how to laugh again and trust in others.

They were our “herd”…our tribe. And my dad was the first one to make the connection between the African buffalo’s behavior and that of our friend’s.

Apparently the African water buffalo displays some interesting behavior within their herd. If they are being chased by a predator, the herd will stick closely together and make it hard for the predator to pick off one member.

The weaker, smaller members are surrounded and kept in the middle and if a member of the herd issues a distress call, the other members will respond and try to rescue anyone who needs help.

They look out for one another, they support and protect each other and respond when there were times of distress.

Just like the tribe of friends that surrounded us in our times of need.

We wouldn’t be where we are today if we hadn’t had those remarkable people in our lives. I am ever grateful that God allowed us to experience that kind of friendship.

Today I have the gift of a new “herd”. (And girls I mean this in the nicest, most fashionable way) 😉

I have found myself surrounded by wonderful women of God who encourage me, pray for me and cheer me on.

When I have felt the attacks of the enemy, I know I can go immediately to my tribe. They support me and cover me with prayer and they never let the weakest of us fall outside of the protection of the circle.

I hope that if you are reading this, you too have felt the support of a tribe like this.

That figurine in our office will always be a reminder of this gift that God has given us throughout the years. While some of the people have changed, the blessings they have been to us are immeasurable.

My prayer this week is that you too will feel the comfort of your own herd, a tribe that is God-picked just for you.

Each week I am joining the lovely Holley Gerth in her 2014 Encouragement Challenge. If you want to join in on the fun hop on over here.

Sometimes we don’t realize the impact we can have with our words and actions.

Gabriel climbed in the van after school last Friday and wasn’t his usual happy self. There is a group of six boys that he hangs out with and apparently one of the boys was having a birthday party that night and Gabriel was the only boy not invited.

If the sound of this mama’s heart breaking could be heard outside of my chest, the noise would have filled the car.

Oh how I want to protect him from hurts like this.

And it reminded me of a similar story with a different ending several years ago.

Isaac, our oldest, was 7 and wanted to have his first birthday party.

He had a class with mostly boys that year and when I asked him who he wanted to invited he gave me a list. I recognized that he had invited almost all of the boys…but there were a few names left out.

We had a conversation and I told him that I really felt like he should invite ALL the boys.

He said that there were a few boys he didn’t really get along with and he didn’t really want to invite them….but I told him that if he didn’t like them, the feeling may be mutual and they likely wouldn’t show – so invite them anyways.

I felt strongly that I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Inviting all the boys would eliminate that possibility.

The invitations went out and I planned for a party.

10 out of the 14 boys came that Saturday afternoon.

It was loud, they spilled on my carpet and Dominic entertained them with dry ice. Stressful but fun, and totally worth it.

Parents started arriving to pick up their kids as the party ended and one mother approached me.

I didn’t know a lot of the parents but she came over to thank me for inviting her son.  She said that he had not ever been invited to a birthday party before. He was so excited to be included that he went to bed the night before wearing his best church clothes.

He didn’t want to chance missing out on the party.

I won’t ever forget that conversation. It choked me up then and still does today.

He and Isaac never became best friends….but for that day, in his best church clothes, he felt special and included.

THAT is what matters friends.

Doing the little things that make such a profound impact.

I don’t know why Gabriel wasn’t invited to that party. I told him that maybe the mom only had enough room for 5 kids total in their car…..would 1 more have been too much? 🙁

When I shared the story about Isaac’s party and how I felt it was so important to do our best to include everyone for that very reason, Gabriel understood and said he doesn’t ever want to make anyone feel left out.

I know that situations like this can’t be 100% avoided, but it reminds me that I need to be considerate of others and that my actions, my children’s actions, can make a difference.

Philippians2: 3-4  “3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

How have you made a difference recently? It may seem small, but I can promise even the little things can have a big impact!

Each week I am joining the lovely Holley Gerth in her 2014 Encouragement Challenge. If you want to join in on the fun hop on over here!!

Photo Credit: via