I wish I had an excuse as to why I haven't posted anything in over 2 years, but I don't!  I am just lazy and distracted!  Of course there are the usual huge life changes like moving and concentrating on a new career (wish I knew what that was going to be) and getting to know my new friend the Hot-Flash, but other than that, nothing new with me.... 
Thanks be to Jesus that He doesn't change and He remains patient and loving with all of us.  I can't wait to see Him face to face, and after experiencing the torture that is the hot-flash, you don't want to go to hell, trust me!! In our world, it should be evident to all of us that it is time to turn to Jesus!  Time is ticking and none of us is getting younger...
Jesus remains the only Savior of our eternal souls and choosing to follow Him means we are allowing Him to make us instruments for His divine glory, to truly be vessels for everlasting wealth.  This is beyond our human comprehension because it means death to our own desires and all that the world tells us we are justified in wanting and pursuing at all costs. This will be a constant unrelenting battle in the flesh that will sometimes dismay and often frustrate us, but oh the results in untold, unseen eternal victories for our souls. We forget that an invisible world exists all around us, hidden from our eyes, but it is there that our work will be building eternal treasures for us! It sometimes doesn't seem worth it because we are so short-sighted, but wouldn't you rather suffer in your temporary body so that you can be perfect and wonderful in eternity with your infinite creator and lover of your soul? Say yes to Him and if you have said yes, spend time with Him and get to know Him through His word and prayer.  Jesus longs to be with us!  Though we do not deserve His grace, He lavishly gives us grace upon grace!
I would encourage your to read the book of Ephesians and Matthew 6:19-21 (I am not making up stuff about the unseen world and building unseen treasure).

Today's prayer and hope is that I would be willing to risk offending in the name of Jesus and eternal salvation.  The world I see has often driven my hands into the air begging Christ to rapture the church and leave all the unbelievers exactly where they wish to be, but I am quickly reminded by Jesus in my heart that rescue is not yet what He has for His church and some of us will sacrifice greatly in our flesh before the time comes.  We are left here not to be comfortable in our worldly pursuits, keeping our mouths shut to avoid offending, but to share Him because the eternal state of the souls in our midst are more important than our comfort.  Too often I have held my tongue or kept silent about Jesus because I just don't want to argue or be questioned, but that is not what Jesus wants of me.  I must, in love, speak boldly of His love and what He offers.  Jesus offers us true freedom, if not in our temporary bodies then in our eternal souls.  The problem is that we are far too short-sighted when it comes to our true inner beings.  Our bodies are decaying every day, but our souls are eternal and that is what our focus must be!
When you think there is nothing past this life and you seek complete fulfillment in the body and its behavior, you are going to be angry and upset if anyone calls into question your behavior. This is why the world believes that Jesus is offensive.  They believe Jesus and we who love Him seek to change their behavior, but Jesus does not ask us to change our behavior, He asks us to surrender our hearts and seek Him. In so doing our behavior then responds and seeks HIS will for our lives.  We seek things in our flesh to satisfy the flesh, but what we want is fickle and ever changing.  Our desires and lusts will never satisfy us because they are temporary fixes and our souls are not temporary, but eternal.  The world is so determined that everyone fulfill their individual desires, but is doing what you want in your temporary flesh really truly fulfilling the eternity that lives within you?  If one more drink, or theft, or hit or lover or abortion or gender label isn't doing it for you anymore, let me suggest that the temporal cannot fulfill the eternal and continuing to seek it in these things will only lead you to more and more extreme desires and more and more defeat.  This is why an eternal relationship with Jesus, who is the only one that can offer such, is our only fulfillment!!! 
I would suggest to all of us, leave behind the temporary traps of this world and seek eternal fulfillment in Christ Jesus-He loves us so much and desires only good things for us!

Has my time with God become routine? Am I just going through the motions with You, my creator, my hope, my salvation? Shouldn't I be filled with your Holy Spirit Power and shouldn't I be screaming it from the mountain tops to a dying and hopeless world just as Jesus did (John 7:37-38)? But let's face it, most days it is all I can do just to get out of bed and face the day before me.  And don't even get me started on traffic or people getting offended if I wear the wrong shoes or something....I feel so angry sometimes and I feel like there is nothing to look forward to because I lose sight of the most amazing event in my future....meeting Jesus face to face.  Why is it that I can't gush with the joy of that event?  Why am I not running into the streets and sharing the Gospel with others?  Why am being so polite about the Power that is Jesus?  It is the power to save your eternal soul from bondage and to set it free for an eternity of perfection.  In Romans 1:16 Paul said he wasn't ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for salvation!!!  Think of how beautiful the horror of the cross was, Christ crucified in our place so that we could be with Him forever.  He chose that so we would have a choice.  We get to choose how we will spend forever!  Let me not take it for granted and let me share it daily with all who would listen.  Let your power and love flow out of me, unhindered and unashamed!  If I walked down the street and saw that someone was on fire, wouldn't I desperately seek water and drench them with it?  And yet I have living water coursing through my veins and I am not pouring it out on people when I encounter them.  Help me Lord, disrupt my routine, invade my heart with a fresh and real desire to tell people about you and your life-saving power.  Let me be filled with fresh Holy Spirit power and let it flow from my heart so that it soaks those around me.  Free me from my polite silence in the hope that no one labels me as crazy or charismatic or over the top about this Jesus character and help me to share boldly in love all that you have done and continue to do for me.  I praise you and thank you for salvation and the hope you have given to all who would believe in you!

Have you ever noticed how some people just roll with things? These are the people that good, bad or ugly, they just have a great attitude and they say things like, "Yeah, I got fired, but this gives me an opportunity to learn something new", or "Yeah, my husband left me, but now I will see if I can stand on my own", or "Yeah, this sucks, but it will make me stronger", or "Yeah, but it could be worse".  These people are great....unless they say these things to me when I'm upset and then I want to cry and punch them in the throat and scream angrily "You are crazy, just let me wallow in my little tragedy here and save your truth for yourself". And once I calm down, I realize that the thing I hate most about these people is that they are absolutely right!  One of the many inevitabilities in this life is that lots of things are not going to go as we want or as we plan and that is just the way it is, but the upside is that we have a choice in how we react to these disappointments, setbacks and tragedies we encounter.  Our perspective is what will determine our response when things do not go the way we think they should go.
It isn't just our own personal setbacks we grumble about, but we get so disheartened when we see so much that is bad in our world. This is the age old concern of all of us trying to live daily in a crumbling, broken world.  Many of us ask repeatedly things like, "if God is good, then why....?" and the answer is very simply, because we lack proper perspective.  I am NOT saying we are not allowed to be upset at injustice or that grief and mourning do not have their proper place, because they do and we should mourn our tragedies and sympathize with others.  What I am saying is that bad things in life are part of the process and when we look outside of ourselves and contemplate the billions upon billions of people that have traversed the world before us and the billions in existence right now, it serves to shrink us and our difficulties to the proper size.  I am not making light of suffering because it is real, and grief must be dealt with and experienced in its proper perspective as well.  We all share in this grief and it is something that often brings us together in a shared understanding of what it means to not be in control and reminds us of the need to find not only eternal salvation outside ourselves, but also comfort from a God who sees and knows all.  
In thinking about this idea of perspective I must ask: Have you ever been to an art museum?  I have been to some of the largest in the world and I can tell you that it is completely overwhelming. That’s because seeing all of the works together is too much for us to contemplate (access to every tragedy on the planet via the internet-really bad idea).  And, have you ever gotten really close to a painting and focused on one ugly smudge of brown on the canvas?  If you only looked at that tiny smudge, it would seem the whole thing is ugly. You have to step back and view it in its entirety to appreciate any beauty that might be found.  It is about perspective.  If we narrow in and focus on a smudge, we only see that and we fail to see how it is incorporated with all the other smudges and color to create something beautiful!  And if we look at all the paintings and sculpture all at once and try to appreciate them, we get overwhelmed and can’t focus on each individual item’s beauty.  Works of art are displayed because they are finished products available to view, but we are God’s eternal works and we aren’t yet finished.
God created each of us lovingly and has given each of us some beautiful smudges, but we wouldn’t be whole without the ugly brown smudges.  He sees everything in this world with an eternal perspective.  He sees all of the past and all of the future already accomplished, so He knows that all of it, however painful at the moment, has purpose.  If we look at things from His perspective we will begin to see our lives as unfinished works of art that must endure some colors we don't like, but which are necessary to provide the whole picture.  The Bible reminds us that those in Christ should not lose heart because there is beauty waiting in the unseen world of eternity (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  His perspective and love for us is eternal; that is why He chose to leave heaven, took up the burden of humanity and endured the cross of calvary for us.
Perspective basically means “the way we see things” and rather than striving to understand all I cannot, I would wish for all of us to see that our lifespan on this earth, although it is all we have known, is not all we will ever know and that it is less than a drop in the bucket of each existence.  Let me remember Lord, that all is for your purpose, however confusing to my limited understanding, and let me remember that you have not yet put down the brush with which my life is being painted.  All eternity lies in you and with you and I pray I would see my life with that perspective of limitless eternity, rather than the narrow limits of earthbound vision. 

 
 

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As I closed out 2020 and another year of reading through the Bible, I finished with Revelation, the last book, of course.  It is very fitting to end the year with this book because it ends, reminding us that one day God will make a new Heaven and a new Earth (Revelation 21:1), one without limitations and disappointments and elections and sickness and riots and looting and social media and  whatever else may have turned your stomach this year.  The Bible tells us repeatedly that He makes things NEW: New Song (Psalm 40:3 NASB), New Heaven and Earth (Isaiah 65:17, Revelation 21:1 NASB), New Heart and Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26 NASB), New Mercies (Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV), and there are countless others!
​This should excite us, because we need new everyday.  I am sure you can relate...I need a new attitude and a new heart and a new everything (especially a new body).  I don't know about you, but I am more aware everyday that this body of mine is not what it once was and I am reminded of this every time I cheerily bound up to the mirror feeling spry and youthful only to glance up and be reminded that I do not look spry and youthful at all!!  What happened?  Where did the time go?  Why is that wrinkle there?  I had brown hair, like a minute ago....And I am sure we can all relate, for even those young among us understand that things change and not always for the better.
We like new and God knows that because He designed us that way.  What is more beautiful than a new car (and that delicious smell), a new home, a new job, a new relationship, a new pair of shoes, a new adventure?  We are programmed to want new!  This is why we are often so hopeful with the beginning of a new year and the hope that maybe THIS year will be better.  Will 2021 be better than 2020?  Who knows.....It is a NEW year, but the question of it being a better year remains to be seen.  The good news is that when we face struggle we can still rest in the knowledge that God is good and His mercies are new every day.  So, do I hope 2021 is better than 2020?  Of course, because anyone who has survived 2020 feels that way, but as the year begins, let us put our Hope, not in the new year, but in the ONE who is allowing it to come about. Every new year, new day, new moment can be better than the last with Jesus guiding it!  Let Him show you something new everyday and seek His face every day.  That is my prayer for you and me and the world in 2021, that we will seek Jesus and know Him more.  That knowledge will be lasting and enduring no matter what the new year brings!

So, the election......I absolutely do not want this blog to become "Amy's opinions about everything..." (I should actually have a separate blog for that as my opinions often stray from the "love of Christ compels me").  I do feel compelled, however, to speak truth when I feel Jesus is telling me to, so here goes..... No, I am not going to tell anyone how to vote because I am not an obnoxious celebrity, that is between you and your conscience.  However,  I am going to speak to something I am passionate about and I think our good Lord placed that passion inside me for His purpose and glory. HOW I express that passion is where I have to be careful, as anyone who knows me and my big mouth can attest.
So, what is it I feel compelled to say?  I think our choices in this year's election are driven by two things: one side is driven by hope and freedom, the other by fear and panic.  God has told us in His Word that the only thing we are to fear, in reverence, is HIM (Luke 12:5, to name one of many).  We are told repeatedly to fear nothing else (Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:10, to name only a few of many).  Am I driven by fear or am I driven by freedom?  Freedom actually scares people who are driven by fear because when you are free in your mind and spirit, you can't be controlled by outside forces.  People who are afraid will choose being controlled by a hollow promise of "safety" because it is easy.  Freedom is the hard choice, just as following Christ is the hard choice in this world and hearing truth when we would rather let pretty lies tickle our ears (2 Timothy 4:1-5). Truth and honesty make people uncomfortable, but the Bible tells us that it is truth that sets us free (John 8:31-32). 
I think too often people make decisions out of fear and emotion and forget that our brains are also a gift from God and I think He expects us to use them to make responsible decisions.  Intelligence and common sense are gifts just like love and compassion are gifts and I think we should be using these in balance, not one OR the other.  
God has given us the ability to discern truth and think for ourselves.  God values freedom and choice because He gives them to us in His grace even though He has the power to command and force us to do what He wants, so remember that when you vote this year.   God doesn't need any of us to accomplish His will and He can accomplish it no matter who the President is, but He is gracious enough to allow us to participate in His plans and I hope none of us take that for granted.  So, on Tuesday, November 3, 2020 you get to make your voice heard.  Please make sure that the voice you use is driven by freedom over fear, intelligence over emotion, and candidate platform over personality.  We need to be voting for someone who values all life and fights to see that we have the freedom to live it!

So, "Crazy" is not just the title of my favorite Patsy Cline tune, it's also a good definition of what it means to follow Jesus in this world!  Following Jesus is crazy!  Why am I saying this?  Because following Him flies in the face of what the world tells us to do.  Even the Apostle Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 1:18-31 that the world thinks the Cross is foolish, but that God takes the foolish things and turns them to wisdom.  Anything that calls you to give up something you want, or serve someone else above yourself, or say no to a desire, or love someone that hates you.....all these things are not what the world tells us to do.  The world tells us to strive for what we want no matter the cost, to serve ourselves above all else, to say yes to every physical and mental desire we have, to love me more than you, to cancel any culture that holds to a belief of responsibility, accountability and acknowledgment of a power greater than our wants; but following Jesus calls us to take a stand against that kind of thinking and the world does not and will not understand such a concept.
The world doesn't understand the radical concepts of Jesus, just as the religious leaders of His day did not understand; and the things that people don't understand are the things that scare them and things that scare us lead us to seek the destruction of those things.  It is human nature at its most basic...the need to rid ourselves of things that scare us and things we don't understand.  It is fear that drives everything in our world.  Fear of diseases we don't understand, fear or people we don't understand, fear of concepts, ideas, opinions, beliefs we don't understand.  Fear is the opposite of Love and as long as fear is driving our world, it will seek to consume anything and anyone it does not understand. All that is perceived to threaten a pursuit of behavior without thought or consequence will be hated by the world.  Jesus said that we would be hated (Luke 21:16-17), so we need not be surprised when we are hated and need not be silent at the thought of it, for this world does not hold our reward.  Our time on this earth is our time to work.  It is in our life in heaven that the true and everlasting rest and joy without end will be!  The best thing on this earth pales in comparison with the least of what is in Heaven!  
If you are a believer, take a stand today and love what the world tells you to fear, embrace what Jesus calls you to, and live in His Hope.  Even if no pastor, priest, or religious leader stands with you, remember that Christ always stands with you just beyond the limits of your physical vision and that His Spirit and its power dwells within you!

Hey everyone!  Sorry it has been so long between posts...TIME gets away from me, as it does for us all!  I continue to be amazed that time seems to race by us when we want certain seasons to last forever and then it seems to settle and quietly refuses to move when we want it to pass quickly.  You know what I mean....When you are waiting for your three-cheese pizza and you're starving, it seems like it takes forever, but then when you're spending time reading a good book or time with someone you enjoy, you look up and the time has evaporated.  It is this thought which led me to my next sentence...Let us not waste any more of the precious time that we have seeking things that will not last!  Jesus told us to build up treasure in a place that will last forever (Matthew 6:19-21). We only have a limited amount of time on this earth and God allows us to choose how we will spend it, what we will pursue and who we will impact.  I become so discouraged with myself when I think of all the time I have wasted and continue to waste.  Just like writing this blog...it was on my heart for so long and things kept getting in the way.  I was derailed so many times by disappointments, struggles and temptations (I will save those stories for a future post).  
When God placed it upon my heart to write this blog, I hoped two things would happen.  One, I hoped that fellow believers would read it and find comfort and encouragement and two, that those who didn't yet believe would come to know Christ and His love and plan for them.  As I write this, I want each and everyone of you reading this to know that I daily lift my voice to Him and ask Him to bless this blog and those reading it.  God is so good and I am so thankful that I get to do this.  I struggled for so many years to know what I needed to do for God and if you are seeking His path for you, please know that just sitting before Him and having a willing heart is the first step in that process.  God doesn't NEED our work to accomplish His will, but He is gracious enough to allow us to be used so that we can receive blessings through that work!  Think about how beautiful a gift that is! But don't think that because you haven't been called to be a missionary in some remote part of the world that God doesn't have a plan made just for you!  He has placed us all in our current roles to accomplish for Him what He has designed for us to do, so just ask Him, seek Him in His word and discover who He really is while there is still time!  He wants us to share His love with a hurting and dying world while there is still time.  Remember this my friends, as long as you draw breath, you have time and He has a purpose for you.  Please live in that Hope and thank Him for that every day by loving those He has placed in your life!

I LOVE being comfortable!  I know this is not unique to me alone, so let's indulge for a moment....Nothing is better than that feeling when you've just gotten out of the shower or when you crawl into clean sheets in a nice fluffy bed or when you plop down on the sofa after a long day, tv remote in hand and your mind feels free of the "stuff" that makes you uncomfortable.  You know the "stuff" I'm talking about.  That stuff you HAVE to do instead of WANT to do, like paying bills and sitting in traffic and doing laundry and going to the grocery store and the gym and the post office and wearing a mask.... pretty much anywhere or anything you think of as your own private hell on earth.  I know, that may be pushing the analogy a little too far, but, you get the idea.  
So this idea of comfortable is something we all want and something we all love, but if you will allow me to step on the toes (mine included)...not something that encourages and nourishes growth.  It's also, relatively speaking, a fairly new concept in the span of the ages and was not really much of a concept for the common man until the beginning of modern conveniences.  I am not a professional historian, but I remember the stories my grandpa told me about growing up miles outside of town with no electricity or indoor plumbing.  It was too expensive to incorporate those things when survival was your goal.  But in our modern, developed countries, we don't have to worry about just surviving, we now have time to focus on our health, entertainment and comfort.  
I know that as a believer who lives in a modern, comfortable, convenient place where I can have anything I want in 1 to 5 days, I take much for granted and often forget that the very  things that make me the most Uncomfortable are the same things I need to grow things like patience and strength, appreciation, authenticity, courage, understanding, learning to give and receive love, God's will manifested in my life and actions.  These things can't happen when we're sitting on the couch, watching TV and ordering items online (yes, I just placed another order this morning). And guess what? God is not concerned if we are comfortable.  I know, you’re cringing right now and I get it.  You may be thinking, “How can someone say that, God loves me.”  And you're right, He does love us more than we can imagine, but let’s talk about perspective.  God sees and knows everything that has ever happened or will ever happen.  He was there at the beginning of all things and is already present at the end of all things, so let that sink in for just a moment. I have to remember, like we all do, that although God cares for everyone throughout all of time, our comfort may not produce His will for our lives and those around us (that's right, I said it....our lives aren't just for us). If God is pushing you out of your comfort zone, try to embrace it and seek what is to be learned from it.  Your comfort may be keeping you from blessing someone else, growing your soul or God's Kingdom.  I am speaking from a place of experience.....I started talking about this blog about 5 years before I finally said "yes" to God.  Please don't wait like I did.  Try to remember that a little discomfort now will result in eternal comfort with Christ, not only for you, but maybe for untold numbers of others who need to hear your story, know your struggles, share in your joy and experience salvation.
The pleasure and comfort we seek never lasts.  It’s all temporary and we always need more and more and more to keep us satisfied….. We seek ways to forget, ways to comfort ourselves, ways to numb the pain, prevent the aging process, slow time, speed up time, stop the grief, the pain, the shortcomings, the faults and failures, but we just can’t.   I don’t say this in defeat but in relief.  I am glad I don’t have this kind of power on my own because it would negate my need for my savior and His love.  He knows how long forever is and He designed our souls to be eternal beings.  This flesh and bone that houses our souls and who we are, is decaying, but our souls will just change location when it finally meets its end. We are given only a little time to make our eternity count for something. I am often uncomfortable with life on this earth, but what joy fills my heart at the thought of eternal comfort with the one who loves me beyond reason and understanding!

I know in this digital age we are all supposed to embrace technology and all its wonderment, including the amazing ability of devises that instantly deliver enough books to keep us reading and enough songs to keep us singing until our final breath. I know it's amazing and I have a device for such purposes.  It astounds me that I can take not one or two books on vacation, but hundreds and without 5 suitcases to hold them all.  What an absolute thrill!!  One can only truly appreciate this  if one has had to take a two week road trip with their parents and grandparents and had to choose which books and cassette tapes they can and cannot live without over the duration of said road trip, but I digress.... 
Having established the beauty and blessing of unlimited glowing, electronic information, my confession is this.....I don't care how convenient it is because I LOVE BOOKS! And don't shake your head in agreement and say "Me too" because you don't understand; I buy a book (at least one) every time I am in a bookstore and when I travel I would rather bring home a book than a souvenir or trinket.  I can't walk by a bookstore without going in and touching as many books as possible.  I turn into a crazy person...I have to touch them, feel them in my hands, flip through their pages, smell them, buy them....Books about Scotland, books about art, books about history, museums, romance, tragedy, mystery, Jesus, heaven, hell, self-help, how to be a better Christian, how to be a better person, nutrition, exercise, classic literature, habits that will change your life, Shakespeare, you name it!  
So, I think I've established that I love books and have reached for them throughout my life for entertainment, enlightenment, guidance and humor.  I began reading at a young age and it has been a love affair ever since, but I have learned to be careful when I reach for a book that promises it contains untold truths that will trigger all my bad habits and issues to fall away and reveal the swan that lives within.  Don't get me wrong, I love self-help and Christian based books about discovering who I am and who I want to be and who everyone else thinks I should be, but I have also discovered that many of these books, which contain helpful ideas and thoughts, often make me feel inadequate and lacking, not only as a believer, but as a human being.  I am not saying they can't be helpful because I have read many that are full of great advice, but I have also found that if I begin feeling less than I am because I am not doing or saying "what I am supposed to", I put them away-life is too short!  The only book any of us should reach for to learn our worth and potential is God's word to us. It's got everything: adventure, absurdity, romance, tragedy, sarcasm (my favorite), darkness, light, hope...And it's best attribute....The truth,  Jesus!  
We are all searching....we want to turn a page and read something so enlightening it changes us and fixes us, but the cold hard truth is that as long as we draw breath, we will remain imperfect.  Attaining perfection on this earth just isn't possible, so the next time you reach for a book (even a good book, written with good intentions) remember that there aren't 10 steps to any type of perfection and all you really need is consistency in opening God's word to you.  Will it magically take away your problems? No, but it will provide light to your path (Psalm 119:105) and strength on your journey (2 Timothy 3:16) and purpose in your life (Hebrews 4:12).  This life is a marathon  to becoming who God wants us to be, not a sprint to the "perfect" person the world wants us to be.
Start today and just pick up the Bible and say a short prayer to the one who made you and loves you....ask that the Holy Spirit fill you and that God would speak to your heart.  Make it a part of every day and it will start singing to you, I promise. Thank you to Bill Gehm at Grace Church in Amarillo.  He is the pastor that taught me to look for Jesus in every word of the Bible and let it sing to me! Tears are streaming down my face as I write this because I know it is true...He speaks to me and He will speak to you if you turn off the world for just a little while and let Him into your heart.  Following Him and reading the Bible hasn't made my life easier, but every page of my life's story  has been fuller and more beautiful than I could have imagined because of its Author.