What will I do with my sparkler?

"There's something interesting about sparklers:
1. They're amusing.
2. They burn out super quick. (While my kids were still writing their name, the sparkler just became a smoking rod.)

David writes this: "God, teach me to number my days that I will live wisely"

And, I've come to a realization. We can choose to take out lives (which are burning like a sparkler right now) and run around and show people all the stuff we can do with our gifts and talents. We can treat them as if they are an audience to our show.

OR we can become igniters. With our sparklers (lives), we can begin to light everybody around us. So by the time our sparkler is snuffed out, we leave a world that is burring and alive. One that is writing their names in the sky because we choose to live a life to ignite others with the cause of Christ.

I choose to ignite."

(Read the complete blogpost by Pierre du Plessis!)

Jesus, you know how perfect this was for my heart today. Help me to not want to run around seeking to prove myself and my work. But rather see myself in perspective and remember how short my life really is, how small I am and how nothing I am without you. Yet with You I can light everyone around me:  my family, my husband-to-be, my friends, my students and my coworkers. Teach me to point others to You with simple acts of sincere love and care, dedication --doing all things to give you glory, and humility  --relying completely on You.

I'm left with a reflection on the analogy: What will I do with my sparkler? Will I show it off or will I multiply the light and enjoy every second of it?

How to build endurance

"When you feel you can't go on any longer but still go on is when you build endurance." Thoughts from Jesus as I run physically and spiritually, looking to Him.

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

To live this way, God the only Fortress

"Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. ... So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows." Psalm 61:2-5,8

Uneasy, tired, tense. Situations can sometimes make you feel that way, don't you agree? I memorized this passage because I thought how amazing it is for God to lead me to a rock that's higher than me. Exactly what I want and need!, I thought.

"FOR GOD alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be greatly moved." Psalm 62:1-2

Did you notice the part of "God alone"? It took me a little while. And then the psalmist says, "He only..."! He only is those great things I need and look for in life every day: security, safety, strength, wholeness. And I'm struggling to feel at ease, to be strong, to feel secure and safe instead of insecure and uncertain and while this is going on, God tells me: "Steph, you can only find these things in Me. And you have Me. You don't need to wait for anything to take them now."
So, I can wait in silence and not in worry, knowing that my wholeness, my salvation comes from Him -and I have Him! He only is my Rock, my security, my strength. He only is my Salvation, my Defense. How about having God defending me? Nothing will overcome me for He has overcome the world! And He only is my Fortress, I won't be greatly moved. You know I'm dust. You know that in my humanness I fall, my heart can falter, my mind can worriedly run,  my body can be tired. But even taking all of that into account, I won't be greatly moved if You are my Only Fortress.
Please, Jesus, Papa, make Yourself my only Refuge, my only Rock, my only Fortress. Teach me what it's like to live this way.

Guess what, my soul? You have God! The Rock, the Fortress, the Refuge -the Only one!

Rethinking Valentine's day

Valentine's day has left an echo on facebook and all around, like the chocolate in my bag. I just read two blogposts written by Jarrid and Juli Wilson that I loved. They have food for thought and I want to share them with you.

Look at this:
"My wife and I have come to the realization that the only way our marriage will last 'until death do us part' is with constant and relentless pursuit, no matter the time and day. This means that we encourage ourselves to treat every day like its Valentine’s Day." -Jarrid Wilson {I love it! It sounds like treating every day like it's Christmas. I'm so blessed that my honey actually thinks this way and prays to do it always.}

"Sometimes love doesn’t come delivered to the door covered in glitter with flashes of bright red and pink. It doesn’t always smell like roses – especially if you choose to serve at a shelter or two. It may not come in a heart-shaped box of chocolates, but I can assure you that it’s the sweetest thing you’ll ever experience. Love goes beyond personal preference and convenience. It’ll always cost you something, but it’ll just as surely will give you back everything you could ever hope for in life as well." -Juli Wilson

I don't know you, but I had to make a conscious effort to think of others this Valentine's and not of myself. That's why this is worth remembering.

Dear Jesus, please help me and every person who reads this to discover the wonder of serving others, being there for them, giving out of our hearts to them, loving them like You do. Please shoot love to the proper place in our priority list. And thank you that as we take time to care for your own, the people around us, in all ways that we can, you bring into our hearts that rich fulfillment found in loving someone more than ourselves. We ask for your help because we can't do that on our own. We want to rediscover the power and transcendence of love! A little love can go a long way. Thank you for creating such a wonderful bomb {love} to change the world with and for inviting us to be a part of it with You! I love you!

Better than you dare think

"Give what you have; to someone it may be better than you dare think." -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It could be as simple as a smile, a heartfelt hug, a touch on the shoulder, a happy disposition, a "Have a nice day", "I hope you get better". Things we do that we think are too ordinary to make a difference. They do make a difference.

By Marcie Dixon
I was going through a very tumultuous time, listening to a lot of heavy metal music, which seemed to express the anger, frustration, sadness and turmoil that I felt inside. One day I went into a diner to be alone in my darkness and despair.
Hopelessness and depression were overwhelming me. I had been asking myself what was the point of my life and my future and had come up with a big fat zero. Dark and negative thoughts and feelings had been swirling around me like a whirlpool of thick, black darkness, threatening to suck me into its vortex. I wondered what would happen if I just let myself fall into it, if I gave in to it, if I just let it take me away. I had been toying with the idea of taking my life.
I wondered if God—if there was one—would care enough to stop me. What would He think—if He existed—if I took my life? I knew one thing: I would be free of the relentless pain and torment that was going on in my heart and mind.
When the waitress came, I ordered a coffee while doodling on the back cover of one of my school notebooks where I had drawn a mosaic of sorts—faces, symbols, objects, expressions; most of them dark, lonely, melancholy, and fearful. They came from within, from the feelings in my heart, as well as the expressions of the music I listened to. In the midst of all of the art confusion I had drawn a small flower, hardly noticeable amid everything else.
The waitress returned with my coffee and set it down in front of me, giving me a warm smile that seemed to reach out and embrace me through the fog of depression that had engulfed my soul. It was like a small ray of warm sunshine on an otherwise overcast day. But I had grown so used to hiding what I felt deep inside that my reflex action was to shift my view down to my notebook. I felt embarrassed and a bit surprised that someone was focused on me. The waitress glanced down at my scribbling and said, “I see you are an artist.”
As I took a sip of coffee, she paused for a brief moment, her eyes skimming across the doodles. Then pointing to the tiny flower, she exclaimed, “Oh, there you are! Such beauty can't be hidden even amidst all this!” She smiled again as I looked up at her. And then she was quickly off to wait on another table. I marveled that she had noticed that tiny flower so quickly. To me it seemed nearly buried in the midst of the mass of confusion of images. I looked at the little flower. Was that really me?
Finishing my coffee, I gathered my things to leave. I was digging into my bag for some money for the bill when the waitress returned, placing a beautiful long-stemmed rose on the table in front of me. I was shocked! But before I could react, the waitress quipped, “Remember, you are that rose to someone.” She then reached down, touched my hand and said, “The coffee is on me,” and disappeared to take care of another table.
As I walked out onto the street, the sky didn’t look so gray and gloomy anymore. It felt crisp and fresh. What just happened in there? I wondered. A total stranger, who knew nothing about me or what I was thinking, had pierced my bubble of darkness with warmth and kindness and hope. Was that God? Was He there after all, and did He care about me? All I knew was that I felt different and the heaviness I had felt in my heart was gone.
Maybe there is a God after all. Maybe He does care and have a purpose for my life. I couldn’t say for sure, but that day I decided to find out if He did have a purpose for me. A tiny seed of hope grew from that experience and became a turning point. Eventually I found Jesus and His love and hope and comfort. That waitress’s encouragement to me started me on my journey which led me to Jesus and His eternal love.

"There are so many all around us who feel about as small and overwhelmed by life as that tiny flower. When the darkness is so great, even a little light can do miracles! A little word can be a lifeline that leads to hope for a lifetime." -Maria Fontaine

This is a post that stayed a draft since 2010. I was looking through drafts today and found this to be a great encouragement. I was just thinking how I want to do some things that require money that I don't have. "That's fine" this story tells me, "You need to wait to have money to do some things, but making a difference is not one of them, you can Give what you have."

Fill in the blanks

When did I start seeing ________ as commonplace and stop seeing ________ as a holy place?
When did I start seeing breathing as commonplace and stop seeing today as a holy place?
When did I start seeing daily chores as commonplace and stop seeing this minute as a holy place?
When did I start seeing laughter as commonplace and stop seeing this moment as a holy place?
When did I start seeing mom and dad walking in through the door as commonplace and stop seeing today as a holy place?

His house

I'm so excited about a treasure I found right after writing the post below, "Oh, how I long to feel accomplished!" Check it out, it's 2 Corinthians 5:1
"For we know that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens."
It makes me think of the reality of earthly things vanishing away. All worldly things will lose their value, will be destroyed. And what if the house I devote my life to build is made with such materials, the kind that are dissolved? It's meaningless, like the Wise one from Ecclesiastes cries out.
And I love the verse before that one.
"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:18 I think that sums it up.
But I can't help but go back to the first verse I quoted. The house, it's a building from God, not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens.
Yes, isn't it all a work of His grace? We'll get to Heaven not cause we deserve it, but because Jesus paid for it. God will reward all we did for Him, yet isn't it He who "works in us to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose?" Philippians 2:13 And yet we get to call His House, Home. What's a greater thrill than that?

"And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever." Pslams 23:6

What does gratitude mean for me today?

I sat on the bed waiting. I ended up putting my legs against the wall, just for fun, and thanked Him. So much has happened and it has all been directly thanks to God. So much beauty, fun and things I had been hoping and praying to do have happened, are happening or are in the verge of happening. And Jesus is the reason behind it all! The only thing that saddens me is that I don't always realize and live like it.

This rainy day, I read a post by Peter Amsterdam on gratitude. It has made me think how I lack a passionate and deep cry of thanks to Jesus, as well as consistent sincere thank you's for the everyday wonder of living life, for this particular day and stage of my life. Giving thanks to the Maker is part of really living. I know it! I've experienced, yet why don't I do it always?

The truth is I don't deserve it, yet I'm guilty every day of taking it for granted. "Oh yes, I'm just engaged to the most awesome guy in the world." "Ah yes, I get to see amazing things take place in my best friend's lives, and I get to share some of life's greatest joys with them, in person...and be there for their sorrows" "Um, of course I can move everything in my body and enjoy great health, I'm young!" 

See what I mean by taking things for granted? What comforts me is that the more I reflect on my attitude of late and the more I dwell on all that I have to say thank you to God for, I just become more grateful by the minute. Thank God!

Finding myself taking things for granted made me imagine how I'd feel if everything was all gone, ALL... and then I got it back again! That's gratitude! That's a tight, earnest hug for God, who gives it all. 

The District of Columbia police auctioned off about 100 unclaimed bicycles Friday. “One dollar,” said the 11-year-old boy who was bidding on the opening bid for the first bike. The bidding, however, went much higher. “One dollar,” the boy repeated hopefully each time another bike came up.

The auctioneer, who had been auctioning the stolen bikes for 43 years, noticed that the boy’s hopes seemed to soar whenever a racer-type bike was put up.

Then there was just one racer left. The bidding went to eight dollars.

“Sold to that boy over there for nine dollars!” said the auctioneer. He took eight dollars out of his own pocket and he asked the boy for his one dollar. The youngster, he turned over his money in pennies, and nickels, and dimes, and quarters, and he took the bike, and started to leave. But he only went a few feet. And carefully parking his possession, he went back, and gratefully threw his arms around the auctioneer’s neck, and he cried.

We should ask ourselves, “When was the last time I felt gratitude as deeply as this boy?”

Thomas S. Monson, “Think to Thank,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 18.

I'm sure you have something precious, priceless, meaningful to thank God for today.

The story He writes

He told me "Why do you worry about the story that is already written?"
"Jesus, what if I don't like the story? What if my worst fears take place in that story?!"
"Don't I make all things beautiful in their time? Your story is no exception, the story of your family is no exception. I'm using it, what right now you cringe over, I will use to bring greater things. Think of it as a lion's den. Trust Me."
And it's a real battle to not give in to fear. Yet, He said the lion's den? What happened after Daniel came out of the lion's den?

I heard that story so many times as a kid. The King was aghast when Daniel came out of the lion's den alive and whole. He told Daniel "Truly your God is the living God" and he commanded his entire empire to worship the God of Daniel, who had saved him. That time in the lion's den, with the fear of maybe being eaten by beasts, is simply not worth comparing with what God was planning after that. 
Maybe the lions in your den seem like they're gonna eat you, like I sometimes worry in my own story, but God will bring us out and do extraordinary things as we surrender to what He has penned and planed since the beginning of time. 
Thank you, Jesus! Thank you for being the best writer ever! All those books that fascinate us, book-lovers, have stories that are left in the dust compared to the love, wisdom, power and beauty you put into our stories. Thank you for being so good!

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." -Psalm 139:16 (NIV)