One year ago…

One year ago, I couldn’t find words to describe so much of what I saw.
One year ago, there wasn’t enough time.
One year ago, He was in the midst of teaching me trust.
One year ago, I was still suffering jet lag.

One year ago, He gave me the courage to overcome gripping fear.
One year ago, He gave me the words to give others courage.
One year ago, I traveled thousands of miles away only to meet family on the other side.
One year ago, I was blessed to add a myriad of names to my weekly prayer list.

One year ago, I was sad to leave my memories in the past and face a new day.
One year ago, I turned a page from one journey to another.
One year ago, I wore yellow dollies and stepped into a new path.

Because, exactly one year ago, I stepped forward from my journey and adventure into an unknown “after-the-happily-ever-after” chapter.

And, exactly one year later, I  don’t believe that chapter is closed.

He is still teaching me so much from my time in Scotland. He is still growing me and stretching me in ways I never would have been able to comprehend without my time with Him.
My prayers for those brothers and sisters connected to Scotland are still heavy on my mind and in my heart. My thoughts and dreams of going back and being used by Him there still weigh into every decision I make here.

And in one year from now, who knows what story I will be writing? Who knows where I will be, how I have grown, and who I have become?

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.”
Psalm 139:1-3

Beanies for the least of these…update

It started out as a small dream and a humble offering of a meager 10 beanies from my hands. It has become a beautiful incense of worship to the Lord from many hands, many hours, and many joyful hearts combining to praise our Lord through the act of service.

Friends, I am so humbled and so blessed by the outpouring of love for this project. Already, I am blown away by the support. Off the top of my head, I can count at least 8 different people who have committed to help make this a reality.

As the Lord has gifted me with administrative qualities, I want to take some time to write out for you the “logistics” of this beautiful ministry endeavor.

1. I have committed to making ten beanies. Others have committed to making “as many as I can” or a certain number. Should you be wondering how many you "*have* to commit to: don’t wonder! Only do what the Lord is calling you to do and consider it worship as you do it! Making this a task would take our eyes off of the Lord and place them on ourselves. This is NOT something we want to have happen!

2. In order to keep heads and tails on the progress, I am asking anyone who would like to participate to just bring me their beanies by November 15th. There’s no need to keep me updated—although, I would love to know that you’re choosing to help, too, so I can be praying for you during this next month and a half!

3. I have looked into making tags for the beanies (ones I can sew on the inside with a short scripture and reminder of Jesus’ love). Unfortunately, the more I look into it, the more I realize how unrealistic it is. The cheapest I have found is a little over $1 for each. That would end up being $100 or more in the end and…well, as I said before. I don’t have an abundance of money; I have an abundance of yarn. =) As a second option, I am looking into printing some small business card sized papers to give with each beanie and a Gospel of John.

4. I have been seeking the Lord on the right time to go up to San Francisco to hand out these beanies. I keep going back to doing it on Thanksgiving Day but, because of some insight from others who have done this sort of outreach, I am considering another weekend as well. If handing them out is something you are interested in, please let me know. I would love company no matter what day I head up there. =)

5. The question has been asked: why San Francisco and not your local community? I wish I had a really good answer for you. Simply put, it’s what I felt the Lord calling me to do. I am not at all against a local outreach of this same sort. It may come to that depending on what the Lord shows me. For now, I am still leaning towards San Francisco. It’s not a matter of WHERE so much as it’s a matter of WHAT and WHO: what are we doing? What is the purpose? Who are we doing it for? Who is receiving the glory?

Again, I am so blessed by each of YOUR hearts for this ministry. Continue to spread the word, should the Lord so lead you.

In Him alone,
Erika

never forget

“Daniel answered
and said:
"Blessed be the name of God
forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His.
And He changes the times and the seasons;
He removes kings
and raises up kings;
He gives wisdom to the wise
And knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals deep and secret things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him.
I thank You and praise You,
O God of my fathers;
You have given me wisdom and might,
And have now made known to me
what we asked of You,
For You have made known to us the king's demand."
Daniel 2:20-23

Never forget to praise the Lord for answered prayers. Never forget to thank Him for clarifying confusion. Never forget that truth, revelation, and peace come from God alone.

Never forget that without the Lord, we are confused, unwise, weak and in the dark.

With the Lord, however, all that changes. With the Lord, He gives us wisdom, might, knowledge.

With the Lord comes peace.  

Clothing the least of these…with beanies.

“…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.” Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matthew 25:35-40

I’m going to put this out there. I’m going to ask for your consideration. I’m also going to be getting on my knees beside some of you and seeking the Lord on this.

When I think of the verses above…and consider the small and insignificant person that I am in comparison to the world around me, I am often overwhelmed at the thought of action. The idea of how much hurt, pain, hunger, and sickness in the world paralyzes me.

It should move me.

But I sit here and go through the faces I see on my way to work. I think about those that I have come into contact with as I walk the streets of Downtown SLO. I wonder at the stories of those asking for money outside the grocery stores. And I once again am overwhelmed – “surely, Lord,” I implore, “there must me something I can do to reach these people with Your love! I don’t have money, I don’t have a place to invite them in to warm themselves…and yet, my heart reaches out to them. What skill set have you given me that I can use to bring your Gospel to them?”

And, as I sat, waited, and listened to the Lord, I knew what that more was.

I am asking you to consider being a part of it – by making beanies.

(image found here)

There are an estimated 7,000-10,000 homeless people in San Francisco. My dream…vision…prayer…is that we can, together, make enough beanies this Autumn to be able to warm the heads of many of these people come Winter. I don’t want to put a limit on the Lord. He could definitely and supernaturally allow for us to make 10,000 beanies…I wouldn’t complain!

My personal goal is to make ten beanies out of the yarn I already have at home.

And then, on (or around) Thanksgiving, I want to drive up to the City and share the Lord’s love with these people. Each beanie that is made will have a tag sewn on the inside of it that points to the Gospel. Each beanie will have, wrapped up in it, a Gospel of John for them to keep.

Each beanie will be prayed over as it is being made, in hopes that the person who will ultimately get it will know how much he or she is loved by our Lord.

Will you consider being a part of this?

Will you pray about making a commitment to make some beanies?

Email me at erikamarie82@gmail.com or leave a comment below. Let’s see what the Lord can do through us – small, insignificant, people – and glorify Him in the process!

trials

“We don’t get over trials, we go through them.” –unknown pastor.

I wish I could remember who first said this. It was in the “June with Jesus” series on the Reality Carp website, but that’s as much as I remember.

As I think about this this fact, I realize the implications that come with it. Trials are things that will shape who we are. They will become part of what we will become, be a part of who we will be, and change us in ways that we never could have imagined. (Photo found Source: ideastage.com via Emily on Pinterest" target=_blank>here.)

Think of a wound.

Most (sane) people, wouldn’t self inflict something like a gaping gash on their leg just for kicks. It’s more likely that it happened unexpectedly. Then, there are the necessary reactions to the event. After the initial pain, tears (if you’re me), and full realization of the even comes the cleaning, patching, and bandaging.

Before antibiotics, wounds had to be cauterized to prevent infection. This involves (to the best of my knowledge) the action of burning the wound to prevent any infections. Obviously, this antiquated process isn’t used as it once was… but even nowadays If a wound is deep enough, stitches will need to be used. (once, my sister hurt herself so badly they had to do a layer of internal stitches before the external layer).

Any way the wound is dealt with, it’s going to hurt. Even with the smallest of scratches: you pour peroxide or alcohol on it and your breath is pulled in as you try to push past the pain.

It’s the times that the treatment hurts more than the original pain. It’s the realization that what you’re doing is actually going to help relieve the pain, but the process of relief starts with hurt. It takes suffering through the pain of cauterizing in order to move past the pain of the original wound.

But, the pain of the process is to relieve any persistent or long term pain.

An untended wound could lead to infections that can spread to the entire body. Even infections that can spread to others. It could lead to persistent pain, amputation, even death.

Just like trials.

See, the Lord doesn’t just allow us to suffer through trials just for the sake of suffering through a trial. But, He does allow them. And, it’s the cleaning of the wound and tending to bandages of each trial that tends to be the most painful.

It’s learning the personal ugliness that comes to the surface and having to deal with it.

It’s the possibility of losing someone you love, having to walk away from a friendship, or saying no to something you want to say yes to.

It’s the realization that, at the time, it wasn’t a fun process. But now, on the other side of it…once the healing has taken place, you can look at the bruise and realize that the pain from the process was worth not having to deal with a festering unhealed wound now.

It’s the relief of knowing that spiritual amputation hurts more than physical and that death can be defeated through faith in Jesus Christ.

It’s thanking the Lord, through it all, for knowing that He is in charge, that He knows the outcome, that He’s been the Doctor on many more cases than just this one.

it’s saying “I trust you, Father. I’ll accept the cauterizing, bandaging, and peroxide. I don’t know how much it will hurt.

But you do.

practicing the “one anothers"

 

Rom 12:10 NKJV - [Be] kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another  Rom 12:16 NKJV - Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Rom 13:8 NKJV - Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. Rom 15:5 NKJV - Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, Rom 15:7 NKJV - Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God. Gal 6:2 NKJV - Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Eph 4:2 NKJV - with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, Eph 4:32 NKJV - And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Eph 5:19 NKJV - speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:21 NKJV - submitting to one another in the fear of God. 1Th 4:18 NKJV - Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1Th 5:11 NKJV - Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. Hbr 3:13 NKJV - but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Jam 5:16 NKJV - Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 1Pe 3:8 NKJV - Finally, all [of you be] of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, [be] tenderhearted, [be] courteous; 1Pe 4:8 NKJV - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." 1Pe 4:9 NKJV - [Be] hospitable to one another without grumbling.

I heard a message today on my way from work. Admittedly I didn’t engage in listening intently, but I was blessed by the parts I heard. One of those specific parts stuck out to me: practicing the “one anothers” from Scripture.

We are made to be in fellowship. We are made for interaction. Genesis 2:18 says “And the LORD God said, "[It is] not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." We were made to be WITH one another. If us being alone is “not good,” as scripture says, then when we are with one another, it is a good thing.

Looking further into the Genesis account, we read that God made us in His image. This would lead me to suggest that, when we are with one another, we are with a reflection of HIs image…or, at least, we should be.

The exhortation still stands: when we seclude, disengage, retreat, or back out from fellowship, we lose.

• We lose the ability to view true humility (Romans 12:16)
• We lose the chance to share love (Romans13:8)
• We lose out on how to relate to those around us (Romans 15:5)
• We lose the blessing of helping someone out in need (Galatians 6:2)
• We lose the harmony in singing mutual praise to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19)
• We lose submission (Ephesians 5:21)
• We lose comfort (1 Thessalonians 4:18, 5:11)
• We lose confession, prayer, and healing (James 5:16)
• We lose compassion (1 Peter 3:8)

Ultimately, we lose knowing more about our Lord and Savior. We lose learning more of who He is and the many beautiful facets of Him that we can’t see in ourselves.

Oh, but when we respond to His desire for us to be with one another, think of all the beautiful things we will gain….

Today, I am practicing the one anothers of the scriptures in the expectation of catching a glimpse…a part…a facet…of our Lord in another person…and praying that they would see Him in me as well.

Will you join me?

21 days

a very trustworthy friend told me that it takes 21 straight days to make an action a habit. I can’t exactly tell you if the fact is true (I didn’t google it…but, I can tell you that I think she’s way smarter than google…so I trust her!) but I could tell you what went through my head…

• 21 days of quiet times
• 21 days of eating better
• 21 days of cleaning my room
• 21 days of making my bed
• 21 days of sharing the Gospel with someone
• 21 days of exercising
• 21 days of showing one person God’s love in a tangible way

even if that isn’t true, it’s still quite motivating. 21 days is only three weeks. that’s less than a month. If the habit is something as silly as making a bed, that takes, what? 3 minutes on a bad day? That’s only 63 minutes that it would take for me to form a habit. instead of the 63 minutes it took me to do other things like…

• 63 minutes to watch a TV show
• 63 minutes of sleeping through my alarm
• 63 minutes of walking through clothing shops
• 63 minutes decorating my room
• 63 minutes driving to the movies
• 63 minutes primping and pampering
• 63 minutes (plus lots) checking facebook

my actions are ready to speak louder than my words without any prodding from me. and they are shameful, at best. and I am reminded that in the Bible, it tells me that my body and my life are meant to be a sweet smelling offering to the Lord.

is that what I am?

or, do I just look before me and desire to be that sweet smelling aroma as I sit and enjoy idleness?

I’ll tell you in 21 days…