Sharing a Snapshot

I've always wanted to get some outdoor family pictures taken by a photographer.  We finally did it last weekend!  I've been talking to my talented friend, Maura, about it for over a year.  The process of coordinating the outfits, slicking down the hair and instructions began.   "Evan, don't touch the cats...and don't lean your head back."  And as I noticed that Emily took the opportunity to experiment with blue eye shadow with ten minutes left to spare, I suggested that I help her blend, which caused hysterical tears.  "God help us!"  Jeff had a headache and I insisted that he was mad about something.  The drive there revealed that Evan's shirt was actually falling apart.  There were threats of turning around and going home if attitudes didn't improve.  That always helps - demanding that everyone be happy...  We arrived so that Maura could capture our 'happy and relaxed' moments together as a loving family.  Sigh...

Pictures have never been relaxed for me.  I spend way too much time preparing and making us look just perfect and instructing everyone on what to do and not do.  Then we all paste our smiles on and look like the perfect little family.

I started thinking this morning about what would happen if we framed the moments that aren't planned and perfect, but the everyday moments - the moments leading up to the one that has the camera on us.  Taking a snapshot of our everyday life - what would that look like?  Ouch.

Um...no?  Not cute.

In Matthew 5:16 Jesus wants us to represent Him well:  "let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father."  We need to remember that our actions, both good and not so lovely, are on display - like pictures - for others to see.  People are watching us, watching us to see how we handle completely frustrating situations and moments when our kids take us to the end of our rope.  When we do mess up, what do we do afterwards?  Do we scramble to make it look like we didn't?  Or do we humbly and truly ask for forgiveness from others?  How do we represent Christ in the everyday moments?  When we don't think anyone is looking.  Something I need to think about!  If my candid photos/videos (the informal snapshots taken without my knowledge) were posted on facebook could I be a good witness for Christ?  Ouch again.

Ok, let's switch gears a bit and look at this in a totally different way:  we are pretty good at displaying the professionally edited portrait of our lives -- the "everything is going well, our family is perfect, we don't have problems." (as in picture below!)  It's the candid snapshots that we aren't as willing to reveal because they are messy.  But...people are relieved to find out that you don't actually have it all together but struggle the same as they do.  All of a sudden you become real and approachable because no one is perfect.  I don't know about you, but I'd rather spend time with someone who is honest than someone who insists that she has it all together and everything is great - when it isn't.

A few weeks ago, I nervously shared my own messy snapshots to a group of women at church, revealing my weaknesses, my sins, and my imperfections.  God wanted me to do this because as I purposefully shared my 'messy,' I was also able to share how God uses the messy and the broken to make beautiful things.  He is in the business of making beautiful things out of the dust.  He was gracious in allowing me to see that my obedience in sharing touched a few and made them stronger by not feeling alone in their own struggles.

This week the Kissel family was under spiritual attack - this is all I can use to explain the darkness that entered into the house and the hopelessness felt.  I could have pasted on my edited smile but I was real and said, 'we need help' to my friends in Christ.  It's hard to display this type of picture to others - the one of weakness.  Prayers from our army helped us come through stronger and unscathed.

Sharing the 'imperfections' in our lives, in the right way mind you, can help God's Kingdom grow in number and become strengthened.

My prayer out of all my ramblings this morning is this:  that we will have more candid, behind the scenes, everyday snapshots that are a great witness for Christ.  That we aren't afraid to share the messy photos if it might help a brother or sister or ourselves.  That we would have big smiles, not because everything in our lives are perfect, but because God is shining through us.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. (Psalm 34:5)

Christ Alone; Cornerstone

Christ alone; Cornerstone,

Weak made strong; in the Savior's love

Through the storm,

He is Lord, Lord of all.

This has been playing in my head since Sunday morning when we sang it at church.  It's a powerful song. Click on the words to hear it!  But I also wondered a bit about what I was singing.  What is a cornerstone?  A cornerstone is a stone at the corner of a building uniting two intersecting walls.  Such a stone, often inscribed, laid at a ceremony marking the origin of a building.  It was very important in ancient days - being a large stone, the beginning of the structure, that held up the whole building.  So, that stone had utmost importance - everything else was dependent on it being correct and strong.

I love analogies/word pictures.  I love the picture of us (weak stones) held up and made strong by Jesus, who is of utmost importance, correct, strong, level, the origin of us.  The storm called life is blowing all around us, but that Cornerstone will support us.  We can completely depend on Him.  He is our Rock, our Love, our Shelter, our All.

Recently I, and many others, have noticed how 'under attack' Christianity and the church is.  Is the attack getting worse or are we getting worse?  Probably both.

Paul wrote, "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” (2 Tim. 3:1-5)   

Paul also warned, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim. 4:3).

We are here for a short time.  Now is the time to link arms with our brothers and sisters in Christ, lay aside our emotions which can not be trusted, believe that Christ is our Cornerstone supporting us in the storm, and run this race together until the day of His return .

"Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord."  (Eph.2:20 NLT, bold type mine)

 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Heb 10:23-25)

Image courtesy of George Stojkovic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This is All God. This is All God's Plan.

While listening to the radio this morning I heard the hosts talking about Kevin Ware (the Louisville basketball player who broke his leg during the game last weekend - in case you've been living under a rock.) Evidently he told CNN in an interview, "This is all God. This is all God's plan. He would never let anything happen that He wouldn't want to happen. He controls everything. Without God there is no us. This is just another situation that is going to mature me and get me to a better mindset." .......Wow!


In the past two days I've read two chapters in two different books that have focused on the hope found in verse Romans 8:28. "We know that God causes all things to work together for good." I think that the 'coincidence' that I read these chapters and heard Kevin's interview in a matter of 24 hours may be God telling me that I need to meditate on this verse and just what it means.


ALL things. ALL people. ALL tragedies, disasters, trials, illnesses, sins. Every time a door is closed - every time we are removed from a wonderful experience, like Kevin Ware, and not allowed to continue. Every thing that happens to us and around us and by us - the big things, the small things, the good and the bad. He uses it all to bless us, make us more Christlike and to bring Himself glory. If we completely believe (have faith) "that God causes all things to work together for good" then we have hope. We have comfort. We can release bitterness and anger over our circumstances. We realize that our circumstances are not an accident --there is a purpose to what is happening to us and around us. We have a reason to 'let go and let God.' We don't have to know 'why' this is happening like this - but just that He is going to work all things together for good. He is for us, not against us. It may hurt...but He meets our needs by giving us strength to get through it.


Our whole outlook on life can change. For the positive. Instead of wondering why God allowed that person to consistently grumble about the negative and talk down to us at work..know that He has a plan. He will use this for good. He allowed this to happen. And, it might, just might...not be about us. Instead of groaning in frustration that our kids are sick again and all of the plans we had for the day will have to be rescheduled, we realize that it is part of God's plan to give us rest, our children attention and extra cuddle time. Instead of falling to pieces over the loss of a job, we know that He is using this situation to grow us and our family and He has plans for good for us. We also need to remember that how we react to these circumstances in our lives is how a lot of people form their opinions on what Christianity is about.


Sometimes, stuff happens that makes us just say 'why? Why would you do that? It's so awful. They want children so badly, God..why did you let another one of their babies die? They have already lost one house, why again? Children shouldn't have to die of cancer, God! In these why moments it looks like there is really no good to come out of it... This is when we have to acknowledge our humanness and humble ourselves...and fall back on faith...trust that even though we don't have any explanation as to 'why?' and we see no 'good in this situation' - God knows what He is doing (better than us) and He promises that He will cause all things to work together for good.


And so then, with renewed strength, we go on... And when the next thing comes into our lives that challenges us, we know we are exactly where we are supposed to be, God has us in the palm of His hand, and we look at it as an opportunity to grow our faith and relationship with God. And when CNN interviews us about our challenge, we say, 'this is just another situation that is going to mature me...this is all God's plan.'

Phone A Friend

Over Christmas a friend from the kid's school PTO contacted me with some neat news.  She and her family are moving to Evansville, Indiana!  She asked if we could meet for lunch and I could answer her questions and give her the low-down on everything Evansville.  I was so excited to do so!  It was going to be fun to tell her all about something I loved and something that I felt like I could educate her on - almost like I was an expert on the topic!

My kids love to be experts on topics - like every topic.  Maybe it is something we're born with.  It's fun to 'know' stuff!  And people do need experts!  I can't help but think about the Evansville mid-day news segment, "Ask The Expert" - various local people are interviewed and take phone calls about their area of expertise. 

I've been reading this month about how to share my faith.  The best approach is probably not to be a know-it-all or come across as an expert!  Maybe it should be more like 'Phone a Friend' instead of 'Ask The Expert'?  It does seem somewhat similar to my lunch date though.  I had knowledge that my friend did not have.  She needed this information and reached out to someone she knew and was comfortable with.  I felt passionate about the topic and was confident that I knew enough to educate her on it.  Everyone has a topic that he is passionate about and can talk at great lengths on.  Have you ever gotten yourself in a conversation though and you realize you are in over your head - you don't know enough to talk about it with someone.  You get nervous and either say stuff that may or may not be true so to appear as if you do know or you say nothing at all. 

When it comes to sharing my faith...I feel like I can write my thoughts clearly, but when it comes to a conversation...well, not so much.  I am nervous that I will say it wrong or not be able to explain the simplicity of the complex nature of a relationship with Jesus.  And in these sad times, what if I bring it up to someone who is completely against acknowledging a Creator exists and will ridicule those who do believe - calling me a bigot, close-minded fool?  So, how do I become as comfortable, confident, and excited in sharing about Jesus as I can about my old stomping grounds?  And ditch my fears of being called dumb names?

Learning and studying about Him!  Talking to Him and listening for Him!  The more time we spend with Him through prayer, worship, and Bible study, church services, and in relationship with other Christians - the more we will know about Him. This creates confidence when talking about who He is.  And it's relatively easy to talk about how He has impacted your own life - you are an expert on your own life!  Before I knew Jesus I was _________.  Then I accepted Jesus as my Savior and payment for all my sins.  He has done _____________ in my life!  And now I am _____________.  I am going to be sharing a brief story following this format in a leadership class at church next week.  As I've been looking over my life, it is hard to just tell one story though!  I have SO many stories to use about how God has worked in my life - and how He still is.

It just so happens that part of my 'story' is about how God has transformed me into a more confident (confidence through who HE says I am) person who does not become crippled by how others view me and what they want to say about me.  But, I still struggle every now and then!!  So, as I pray for opportunities to share Jesus to others - I will pray for reminders of how He has freed me from that fear.  I will pray for confidence and power to flow through me and for Him to give me words.  I will pray for strength to live the way He wants me to so to be a good example and not be viewed as 'just another Christian hypocrite.'

But what I really need to pray about is that He would give me 'excitement' - that I would be bubbling over, eager to share all I know about Him to others.  Those who don't know, need to know!  They are missing out on information that is life-changing!  Just like how I can tell anyone moving to Evansville what they 'need' in order to start a new life in that town - I also have valuable information for people who need Jesus and want to start his new life with Him.  Lord, I pray that I would be excited to share my 'expertise' to those in need.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.(Matthew 5:14-16)

Renew A Steadfast Spirit Within Me!

Last weekend we took a quick trip to Evansville.  It was fun, got to see our parents and Jenny and Jason, saw a few other friends very quickly, checked on our house, and ate some Turoni's, Hacienda, and Donut Bank.  While there I commented how weird it felt to come back after not living there for a year and it felt so normal there -so routine.  We know every place there, every road, every restaurant, etc.  It is weird to not call a place we know like the back of our hand 'home.'  Yet, it didn't feel like home.  And it was frustrating, yet again, to visit and not have a heavy weight looming on us.  I imagine it will be so nice when our house finally sells.  It will be like the loose ends are tied and we can completely close this chapter.

Jeff and I left Em and Ev in Indiana with some eager grandparents and made our way back home.  It has been quiet here, but I've made friends with our kitties again since the kids aren't hogging them.  We have gone on a few dates.  I made Pad Thai for Jeff one night - something he's wanted me to make again for him for at least a year now!  During the days I've kept busy painting a cool design on the foyer wall that I saw on Pinterest, painting the upstairs bathroom, visiting with my friends Stephanie and Wendy, going for walks, running a few errands.  I'm glad I've had things to keep me busy so it wasn't lonely.  I have applied for six or seven nursing jobs now but haven't heard anything yet.  It's been so quiet I have had plenty of time to be in praise and prayer throughout the week, crying out to Him more than I ever have.  I have experienced several bouts of what must be anxiety (I guess that is what it is - my chest feels like it is going to split open almost!) over the last few weeks when I let my mind wander to the 'what if's' and start worrying about the future. 

Psalm 51:10

For the most part I have had an upbeat attitude and a steadfast trust.  The last few days have been a little rough though and I have let fear and doubt creep in.  It's hard.  I could easily choose to go down the 'it's hopeless' path.  I can not believe it has been a year and here we are - in the same position...  (yes, that was kind of a hopeless thought I just typed - see...)

I also went and ate at Chick-fil-A on Wednesday to show my support to the company's owners who will not deny our God, but lift Him up and bring glory to Him by not being afraid to say that they value and believe and practice what the Bible says.  I applaud him - we all need to be so bold!  And as the world gets worse and worse - as it will - we definitely need to expect that these type of situations will come up more and more. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

It has amazed me all of the comments I have read from those who are so lost and so angry and hateful - they need Jesus and they need Him before it is too late.  Not to preach gloom and doom... Sometimes there is a place for personal opinion, but some things are God's doctrine that is not to be twisted for convenience and comfort.  Everyone wants to argue their stance, but the bottom line is - if you have not put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior admitting your need for help in this life and turning from your sins - when He comes back for us you will have an eternity to regret it.  Since we have moved to this city (I've never lived in a town larger than 120,000) I am constantly amazed at how many houses are everywhere we look.  There are people everywhere - and we are only in the 18th largest city in America!  There are people everywhere!  And so so so many of them are hurting and lost and have no idea that Jesus died for them.  Now, what do I do about this?  I think Christians took a stand this past week, but there are some who are being self-righteous about it and mean and nasty towards a certain group of people.  That doesn't help anyone!  I pray that God gives me opportunities to use the passion that I have developed over the past year on this subject matter in a way that would cause lost people to see a glimmer of Him.