Like a Child

    In my last post, I posed the thought that maybe with the teaching of not trusting people here on Earth, if we have affected the way we look at God. I have two daughters, Ava who is almost 4 and Hannah who is almost 2, Ava in the past few months has shown a real interest in Jesus and the relationship she can have with Him.

   I mentioned that she had, in her own way, accepted Jesus into her heart. She believes that Jesus lives in her and talks to her when she jumps around. Now many would hear that and wanna change her wording and her thoughts, but I see her innocence and am allowing her to build a relationship with Jesus that is real to her. I think too many times we wanna put God in a box, that fit our ideas and make it comfortable for us. A child doesn't think that way, if any of you have young kids or have had young kids, you will know what I mean. They imagine things and do things that after awhile don't make sense to an adult. I wanna pose the question, Why does God have to make sense to us in our small mind? Why can't we let God be God and let Him do things that blow us out of the water? He made water come out of a rock, He made food fall from the sky. Do either of those things fit into what we would normally imagine? Of course not, that is why only God could do it.

  Jesus used little kids as an example, because they would come to Him with no preconceived ideas about Him. They would let Him be God and would trust Him. Have any of you had a child just jump to you from a high place, just expecting you to catch her? I remember my daughter Ava did that once, my husband wasn't looking at her, but thankfully he did catch her. I remember the conversation he had with her afterwards, it basically amounted to her making sure that daddy was looking at her. The difference between her daddy and her Heavenly daddy, is that God is always watching her.

Watching my two daughters has taught me a lot about trust. Without even thinking about it, the two of them, in a store, would walk off with a couple kids. Now, that is something that has to be taught to not do, but God placed that trust in our hearts at a very young age. I don't think it was meant to hurt us, but to show us how God wants us to be with Him. To just trust that He has our lives all mapped out and if we just trust Him, we wouldn't have to go through the pain that we go through due to our disobedience.

The ramifications of disobedience can be related back to a child as well. When a child starts to develop their independence, she starts to ignore what she is told, thinking she knows better. In the end, the child realizes that the disobedience was not worth the consequence she received. God doesn't want for His children to face hard times, it makes Him sad; but in order for us to learn He has to put on the heat so to speak. And in the end, even as a child with her parent here, God brings us back to Him and lets us know that we are loved.

 I guess what I am trying to say through all these analogies with children, is that God desires that type of relationship with us. He wants us to trust Him, to come to Him when we are struggling. He wants the same relationship that any parent would want with their child.

Out of Place

As the title says, that's how I feel as a Christian in America. We technically have legal freedom to practice our religion. However, society tells us that we can't practice the parts that they don't like. We shouldn't make people uncomfortable by talking about Jesus. We shouldn't try to affect our legal system to include laws that other people don't agree with. We don't have the right to hold society to the same standards that we hold ourselves to.

And this is OUR fault. WE have caused the struggles that we face. The actions of past "Christians" has tarnished our reputation and given an unflattering connotation to our faith. Bible thumpers, condemning everyone to Hell rather than showing them the love of Christ and leading them to a relationship with him. Televangelists asking for money every week while living in lavish luxury. Supposed icons of our faith brought low by scandal. And it continues today. So called "churches" protesting military funerals. MegaChurch leadership embezzling and misusing funds.

And still, this is OUR fault. Why is it our fault? Because, we've bought into what our society tells us is true. That no one should be accountable for their actions. It's always the fault of someone else. And how dare you tell me that I'm wrong, it's not your place to judge me.

And in all of this, WE have failed. That's WE as Christians. As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to admonish, teach, and edify each other. But we do none of these. Each of us sits in our own little God bubble where it's just Him and us. As long as we're right with God (in our own minds), we don't need church or fellowship or to reach out to others in kindness and love. This is all wrong. How can we be right with God when we ignore all that we are called to do? Yes, there are some people and even whole churches out there that get it right. But as The Church as a whole, we are failing miserably.

From August 4th-14th I was on a short term mission trip to Honduras with the high school youth group from my church. Many of you have never experienced a third world country. It's rough. Yet, the people we came in contact with had a vastly deeper understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ than any of us. People with nothing actively seeking ways to serve US. They showed us what it means to truly live in love and service to God. Everybody worked together to further His glory and purpose.

By their sacrifice and kindness, they changed us. Now we need to use what they taught us to be a blessing to others. We may not be able to change society, but if we can show one person what it means to be a true follower of Christ, then we will have done that much more to further His kingdom.

Gina Foerster "Another slave to Jesus"

Let me start out by saying that I consider it an honor to be asked by Mike to be one of his authors on this blog. Everyone that is a follower of Christ has a story, some more "colorful" than others, but each story is unique and beneficial to the body.

Let's say mine is not the most "colorful" of the bunch. I am the typical grew up in the church type of person. I became a believer at the age of 3, yes I know what type of sins does a 3 yr old do, well you can ask my daughter Ava. But I think a young child knows Jesus like no other person. I remember when my daughter, Ava, came to me and said that she had Jesus inside of her. She was jumping up and down and saying "He is talking to me when I jump." A child trusts so deeply that us as adults have to teach them to not trust so much. I wonder if that not only affects how we view people but also in the end how we view God? Just the faith the size of a mustard seed is what Jesus said and we could do wonders.

Anyways, back to my story. I grew up in the church, went through all the way to college. And what I found as I got older is that I was holding onto my parents' views of Christianity and not my own. I had never made it personal until I went through some rough patches. God had to become real to me, He had to put me in the coals to show my impurities. It is something that even though it hurts at times, in the end I would never trade it. God has become more real to me and for that I am grateful.

I like the title that Mike decided to give his blog, "Slave to Jesus".  I would never trade Jesus as my master for the world, because I know in the end, His arms is where I will be. People talk about Hell as fire and eternal burning, but actually it is the distance from my Savior that will hurt people more than ever. People take God's love for granted, they see Him only as the "Do not" guy. God is so merciful and cares so deeply that He only wants the best for us.

My hope and prayer is that each of you that visit this site will find that no matter what you are going through and whatever God is trying to get through to you, that you will find that you are not alone in this walk. We all have a cross to carry and with each other's words we will stay on the straight and narrow.

Be blessed and feel free to ask me anything at anytime. I am as well an open book.

Welcome Everyone, and God Bless.

First of all, if you're reading this, thank you for stopping by. Many of my readers will probably be familiar with my writing from a previous blog. The focus of my life has shifted however, and I feel I need to do more to serve that focus. You can probably tell from the title of the blog what that new focus is. However, for those of you who may be less gifted in perception of the obvious, it is my relationship with God. 

Now I realize that not everyone who stops by this blog will share my beliefs and viewpoints. I'm fine with that. I am always willing to engage in an open, honest, respectful dialogue. If you want to post comments I only ask that you abide by those conditions. (Okay, spam and junk comments are obviously not appreciated.)

I have to admit, I have done a horrible job in the past in regards to my walk as a Christian. I was "saved" in a Baptist church when I was eight. Quite obviously I wasn't really aware of what that decision meant, as the next two decades would prove out.

Many of you know my story. Most of you probably don't. If you ever want to hear it, just ask. It's nothing spectacular, but it's my story.

For those of you who don't know me, some quick background. I grew up in one of the smaller of the small towns in west Michigan. I'm divorced with two kids. Zane and Olivia. We live with my parents. Like I said, quick background. If you hang around for a while, I'm sure other questions you may have will be answered. But if you just can't wait, ask. I have no problem answering questions honestly. The reason for that; I'm terrible at lying. 

All that being said, the overall purpose of this blog is to share my life as a Christian with others. God calls us to make disciples, and if I can in anyway do His work to bring Him glory, I am humbly willing to do so. If ever you think this blog begins to be more about my glory than His, let me know.

 I'm hoping to invite fellow disciples to share on this blog as well as time goes by. Nobody has the same experiences and the only way to grow is to learn. I feel we can learn best by partnering with people who seek the same end result. Nobody has a corner on insight, and all thoughts and opinions are welcome in a learning environment. Also necessary in such a situation is a mindset open to correction and admonishment when proved to be in error. 

Again, thanks for joining me. God bless you and your families.