Serving brings JOY!

      Many of my New Year's resolutions were about serving others.   I was going to open my home up and invite my members of my church family over to dinner every month.   I was going to write an encouraging note to two co-workers every week and leave a treat in their mailbox.   I was going to make the note and treat anonymous.

NOTES:
      I wrote two encouraging notes and left two treats in teacher's mailboxes.   I happened to be in the workroom (Where the mailboxes are located) when one of the teachers received her surprise.  She read the note and began to cry.   She said it was beautifully written and it was exactly what she needed to hear.   Both teachers wrote an e-mail out to the whole school thanking the "anonymous" giver.   I heard through the grapevine that both of those teachers had a little more pep in their step.

        I found out that doing this for my co-workers has made me more like Jesus because I am able to see these people how GOD sees them.  None of my co-workers know the notes and treats were from me (and I am going to work hard to keep it that way).. But knowing how my kind words and actions made such an impact on two people's days really brought me joy.

DINNER:
      I invited an older couple over to my house for dinner.  I made turkey, roasted squash and lemon green beans.   This older couple is kind of like parents away from home for me, and I was very excited to have them over.   The couple brought homemade cranberry bars and a few dog treats for my dog.   We enjoyed a nice meal together and enjoyed each other's company for several hours.

      This was a huge blessing to all of us.   It gave me an opportunity to get to know two members of my church that I respect.  It gave them the opportunity to be "served" by me and enjoy my company as well.

     Serving the LORD truly brings joy!   I will continue to do my best to serve him and honor him to the best of my ability.

~Sunny :D

CUPS

It is 2014 and a new year means new beginnings.  I am trying to fill up my time with new adventures and I am trying to make new friends and spread joy and encouragement to everyone.   This is my goal.

            I am seeking ways to get more involved into my church and I was speaking to a close friend about all the options I had.   She finally asked me:  “are you filling your cup or just filling your time?”  She continued to explain: “If you feel like these ministries are going to fill your cup, and make you feel whole and give you warm fuzzy feelings by all means do them.  However, if you think these ministries are just filling up time because you are single and don’t know what to do with your time, you are just wasting time and you will end up feeling burned out and frustrated.”

She was right! 

There is a difference between serving GOD and serving man.  When you serve GOD it brings you joy.   I want to serve GOD with MY talents and gifts.  When the LORD is able to use me and my skills it brings me joy.   It does not feel like a part time job.  It does not feel like a burden.  Serving GOD this way fills my up cup.

When you serve man (and his/her objectives) you will feel frustrated.   I can think of a time not too long ago when I left a situation in tears because I was not willing to do something I knew in my heart I would be very bad at.   My peg is very round and it won’t fit into a square hole no matter how hard I try to push it.   I did not feel like this was serving GOD, I felt like this was serving man and it filled my time but not my cup.

            If you have been around churches long enough you know that the church is referred to as being a “body” and each member has different parts (or gifts) to offer the church.    There are things I just can’t do.    There are people who find immense joy in doing crafts with children~ I am not one of those people.   There are people who enjoy teaching bible studies~ I am not one of those people either.   There are people who enjoy working with very young kids (nursery)~ I am definitely not that person either.  If I try to do ANY of these things, I am filling time.  

           

            I do have skills and talents.   As a teacher I am able to teach kids from Kindergarten-12 grade with ease and comfort.   I am not intimidated to lead a room of kids in a song.  I enjoy singing with the choir.  I enjoy opening up my home to friends for dinner, movies or board games.  I have a background in food service so I feel comfortable helping out at church fellowship dinners.   When I do these things I feel like I am serving GOD and it fills my cup.   I feel genuine JOY that can only come from the LORD.

“You assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. “

~Psalm 15:5

~Sunny :D

My 2014 GOAL

Falling on my Knees

I heard this song the other day when I was hiking with my pug... I hope you enjoy it!

BFF Praise Report

The BFF I blogged about a few weeks ago is still searching the LORD~ and I believe that GOD is teaching her how to hear HIS voice.    I am blown away by the things she says, things full of wisdom.  

YAY GOD #1
She is attending church every Sunday.    She continues to tell me that she believes GOD is talking to her.

YAY GOD #2
She wants me to begin to pray out loud before our meals.  You have to remember this is a women who used to tease me about this a year ago.

YAY GOD #3
She sent me a text thanking me for being such a good example of a Christian women.  

YAY GOD #4
Her husband recently joined the military band.   She was anxious because he will either go to Texas (so she can join) or Korea.  If he goes to Korea, she is not allowed to go with him and will have to stay here in Arizona.   They are not sure when he will get the orders.   I sent her Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, said the LORD. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future."   She told me the scripture encouraged her and she said:  "Sunny, I have a peace about it.  I know GOD will work it out."


I am praying for her.  I really want her to understand how to have a relationship with GOD.  I want her to ALWAYS hear his voice and I want to see her in heaven someday..

Please keep praying for her!

~Sunny :D

Lightbulb

Have you ever had that lightbulb moment..  That moment when everything that was spinning in your head made sense?  I recently had one of those moments when I was reading the book of Ephesians.

I tend to over-think things.  Some of my friends call it rabbit holes, some of my friends call it circles, one of my friends call it what it is.. Over-anaylizing.    In any case, it's always a trap of Satan to steal my joy.   I worry about the who's and the when's of my future instead of resting in the love of my Savior.   Anyway, here are some good verses for Ephesians.. Enjoy:

“As a prisoner for the LORD, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient bearing with one another in love.” ~Ephesians 4: 1-2

I believe that my single status is a calling.  I am praying that this season does not last forever, but it has lasted longer than I (or anyone else) could have visioned for my life.   But I have to humbly ask GOD if I am living a life worthy of the calling I have received?   I want to bring him glory, and honor and praise but I am not sure if I am doing a very good job of it.   I waste a lot of time as a Single women.    I waste a lot of that time worrying and asking:   Why am I still single GOD?

“In him we were chosen having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” ~Ephesians 1:12

“For we are GOD’s workmenship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which GOD prepared in advance for us to do” ~Ephesians 2:10

I had to prayerfully consider that maybe, just maybe I am single because GOD needs me to do something great.. Something bigger than the "traditional" family that most of my Christian friends have fallen into.   If I am single at 36, I am single for a reason.

I have accepted that I won't have kids.  In fact, I have actually begun to realize that it's probably better for me and my ministry/ job if I keep kids out of the equation.   I am not saying this because I desire to be selfish with my time and money.  I am not knocking motherhood either.  I am saying this because I honestly believe my life is better because I don't have children.  I am able to do SO MUCH MORE for GOD because I don't have children like most women.   (on a side note, I am very, VERY allergic to pain medication so Childbirth would be very unpleasant for me).  It is kind of sad thinking that I am missing out of this very aspect of women-hood, but at the same time.. I have a complete peace about it.   10 years ago I desired to have children, but that desire has changed once I realized that GOD needed me to have the freedom to serve him.

Now, let's talk about the single status thing.  Does GOD want something great from me?   I don't think we have a loving GOD who would keep me single just so I can teach kids.... Lots of perfectly good christian women teach kids and have marriages too.  

I need to do MORE with my single-state.   If I am going to remain single I want to remain single because GOD needs me to do amazing things for the kingdom.... 

Right now I am not doing anything worthy of the calling I have received~   What has GOD prepared in advance for me to do?  What is the purpose of his will for my life?

I have been praying that the LORD shows me what to do next!  (He is a lamp for my feet and he will direct my paths).  

~Sunny :D

When Women Talk....

I have kind of decided in my heart that I wanted to make 2014 a date free, distraction free year.   I am not completely closing off the possibility of finding a good guy this year, but trying to put it on the back-burner.  Ultimately I wanted to serve GOD and keep my focus on HIM and not on boys.    I have been finding this goal very difficult.

            We all have those friends you say “Hey, we should get together sometime..”  During my breaks from teaching I tend to see these friends.   Summer break, Thanksgiving break, spring break and Christmas break.  I had 4 social obligations in one day with women I don’t see very often. 

            I have been meeting with all these different women and the topic seems to revolve around my (date-less) life.  Each woman offered advice about how I could get a guys attention.   We would analyze the words or actions of the last guy I thought was interested to see what happened.  They would advise me to sign up for e-harmony or Christian café.    Some women even offered to find someone to set me up with. 

            I am trying to focus my mind on the things of GOD.   I am trying to find my contentment in being single and it’s incredibly difficult when all women talk about is men.   (If you are a guy reading my blog you would be AMAZED how much women talk about you). 

            Granted, I brought some of this on myself because I typically talk about guys all the time too.  I would encourage thoughtful analyses of my dates I went on and do a play-by-play with all of my girlfriends who all gathered around me like animals waiting to get fed.   These women would give listening ears, advice and prayer that maybe this time was different.  Maybe “he was the one”~ and these same women would console me with ice cream when things did not work out as I hoped.

            I never realized how all this was an EPIC waste of time!   I am beginning to wonder if I can even have a conversation with a women that does not center around guys.  Not only is it an EPIC waste of time, I believe it’s the cause of some of my anxiety.

            How can I change this?  How can I make my conversations with other women become more GOD focused and less guy focused?  I can make a conscience effort to make my conversations more GOD centered.  Talk about sermons I have heard, or share praise and worship music.   Talk about all the great things GOD is doing in my life instead of focusing on the thing that is not happening.    How can I reinvent myself in a way to relate to unsaved friends without the talk of boys?   I can invest in myself and explore hobbies and do these hobbies with friends.

I want to make my conversations with others more glorifying and edifying.. 

~Sunny :D

New Years Resolutions...

January 1^st always means it’s time to make New Year’s Resolutions.   I decided to ask GOD what I should be doing in 2014.  After much prayer I believe my time would be best spent serving the LORD to the best of my ability.

I am going to devote more time serving the LORD in my church.  I am already very involved, but I believe it’s time for me to find out what other ways the LORD can use me.    I am praying that GOD opens up an opportunity for me in the New Year.   I also plan on opening my home more often and practice hospitality to other members of the body of Christ.    I would like to invite people over once a month and make them a lunch or dinner.  

I will also devote some time being more encouraging to my co-workers.  I am not the only one at my school feeling frustrated with our circumstances.   Just like it makes my day when someone gives me an unexpected surprise I think others would benefit from me doing the same thing.   Every week I would like to write an encouraging note to a co-worker and leave a surprise in their mailbox.  I will also do this anonymously and try to pick a different co-worker each week.    I will try to pick someone who is really having a difficult week.  Because of my chatty nature, I build relationships quickly and people often “dump” their problems onto me so I know who will need a pick me up. 

I already spend an hour a day with GOD (often more than that).  However I am going to begin reading books by Christian authors during my lunch breaks at school.   I have a pile of books I purchased over the summer that I have not even cracked open.  It’s time to get those read.   I plan on posting book reviews of the different books I read.

My New Years resolution is simple this:  Focus on GOD and his love and be content in all things.   

New Year.... Old Friend

Last year,  I had a spiritual battle with one of college friends.    She had been challenging my beliefs for months and I knew that it would eventually become a very bad situation.  I tried to distance myself from her, but it was difficult because we had so many mutual friends that we would often end up at the same place at the same time. 

A group of my gal pals went hiking in Sedona and this girl decided to attack me the entire time.  She tore me apart.  The way I looked, the way I talked, the way I acted.  Those things hurt.  Nothing she said hurt me as much as when she insulted my Savior and my beliefs.   I know persecution of the Saints is supposed to be expected but do you know how it feels to be torn apart by a “friend” during a 4 mile long hike?   Halfway through the hike I got so upset I put on headphones and listened to praise and worship music.   I was afraid I would fight back and say some very hurtful things.  (I had very mean spirited things welling in my heart by this point).

After the hike was over and we all returned home I decided it was time for me to end that friendship.  I believed it was toxic and no longer anything I needed in my life.   I prayed about it and I felt peace about ending it.    I really wanted to take the “high road” with the situation. 

She did not take the high road.  After I told her that I thought it would be best to end our friendship she decided to trash me to all of our mutual friends.  There was a division between her and I.   I refused to lower myself to her standards.  I refused to trash her or speak badly of her.   I kept telling people that I did not want them to feel like they needed to pick sides, but most of them did.   Either you sided with Sunny or you didn’t.  Because she was trashing me and I was not retaliating, Most of them picked her side.   My spirit was crushed when I was uninvited to Thanksgiving Dinner (on Thanksgiving Day).   I was broken-hearted as I saw all of MY FRIENDS doing fun things with her as I sat alone every Friday.   She would plaster the pictures all over Facebook as a painful reminder to me that nobody wanted to be my friend anymore.   Her goal was to ruin my social life, and for the most part she did.   With the exception of my BFF, most people turned their back on me. 

I am a social butterfly~ and this was a difficult time in my life.

She got a job teaching at a University in Florida and moved away in August.  I am going to be honest and say this was a HUGE blessing to me.  Suddenly those old friendships became renewed.  Little by little my phone has been getting invites to parties and lunches.   I don’t have the exciting social life I had 2 years ago but at least I am not alone all of the time.

There is one friend that was very close to the women who trashed me.  They were like two peas in a pod.   She was not even going to try to maintain a friendship with me because she believed the other friendship was more important~ and I understood the allegiance.    Now that the toxic friendship is gone, this other woman is softening her heart to me again.

I was at a party last night and I ran into this woman.  She asked me how I was doing and we ended up talking for 2 hours.  It was as if all those hurt feelings and long months were behind us.   She wants to get together and I would like that too.  I would love to hash out things with her and renew that friendship too. 

I praise you Jesus for this renewal in my friendship.

~Sunny :D