The year of "yes"

This past year has been one heck of a ride! For a while I thought of this year as "the year of travel." I have, after all, been many places. But really, it hasn't.

My 27th year has been the year of "yes."

In January of 2014 I was reading the book "Love Does" by Bob Goff. (If you haven't read it, you should!) Goff talks about the many things he has done over the course of his life and how God brought about these crazy events. While reading, I wondered how one accomplishes so many things. How do these events happen to one person? One quote totally stuck out to me and transformed how I view life. In his book, Goff states “I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.”

Say yes. That's all it takes! 

Sounds good in theory, but nobody was banging down my door, begging me to come do crazy things with them. The thing of it is, though, the more you say yes, the more God trusts you to say yes, and the more opportunities He gives you.

After completing the book, I felt like the Lord was calling me to go to South Africa for two months. I SAID YES. I spoke with the missionary who was there in Durban (Pr. Greg and his wife Kristin!), spoke with people I trusted, and turned in my five month notice at work. I was amazed at how many people supported me in my endeavor! There were so many times that I didn't think the money was going to come through, but the Lord kept providing.

While in South Africa, I didn't know what I was going to do for a job or where I was going to live once I returned. A few weeks before I left, Sarah and Matt, whose house I lived in, asked me to nanny for their daughter Jasmine once I returned. Included in my pay was a place to live! I SAID YES. I was nervous, and wanted to quit several times a day the first week, but found that being her nanny was one of the most rewarding things I had ever done. Also, I miss her like crazy. 

Matt and Sarah had to go out to Arizona for their jobs for two months and asked me to go with them and keep Jasmine. I SAID YES. My time there was not always easy, but it's what I needed. I went on my first two hikes there, even though they intimidated me. I SAID YES. I even drove 7 hours to Vegas to see my grandparents! And during the 26 hours of driving from Sierra Vista back to Augusta, I saw Jaclyn and Amory, who I have known since I was only a few months old and haven't seen in 20 years, visited Monroe, Louisiana (Duck Dynasty!), and saw my old roommate Amy!

Matt and Sarah were re-stationed in July and asked me to drive a 26-foot uhaul, pulling Sarah's car behind it. What the heck. I SAID YES. (Although let's be real, I said no many times during the drive. It was a bit scary at times.) But I did it! 

And then in June I found out that I had been accepted into the Master's of Social Work program at Georgia State University. Moving to Atlanta scared the daylights out of me, but with the encouragement of family and friends, I just kept on. I SAID YES.

Want to know how to do amazing things and seeing God blow you away? Just start by saying yes.

The coolest parts of this story? 1. There were many more things that happened that I didn't include in this 2. I'm not done saying yes! I'm not done with this crazy adventure!

When Tiramisu Steals Your Worship

Let's be honest, folks. I'm a little ADD. (Not diagnosed or anything, but I probably could be.)

I actually had this blog written in my head on Monday. And have stared at the ipad intending to write it since then.  And have found other things to distract me every single time.

UGH.

What were we talking about?

Tiramisu. Right.

One of my favorite things to do is worship. I love when the world stops its craziness for a little while and we get to corporately focus our eyes on God. I love my alone time in worship as well for the same reason. I love that I get to be in two worship services on Sunday mornings, giving everything I have.

But sometimes, I think about Tiramisu.

This past Sunday was a great day. I was excited about worship and knew that it was going to be powerful. In the first service I was singing and suddenly realized that I wasn't thinking about the words, about God, about anything along those lines. I was thinking about the Tiramisu I had made the day before.

At that point I had two choices: to recenter my thoughts or to feel condemned. Usually I fall into the second habit, the one where all of a sudden my praise becomes questioned.

I wonder if I was really engaged or if it was just habit. I wonder if the congregation knows that a person they thought was genuinely leading was just drooling over a dessert. I wonder if what I was doing was really pointless because I wasn't actually paying attention. But that morning I came to the understanding that tiramisu was not stealing my worship. Condemnation was.

I believe firmly that God knew what He was doing when He made me. I believe that He knows my ins and outs. He knows that I sometimes struggle with concentration. One of my favorite verses is Psalm 139:13

"You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so complex! Your workmanship is marvelous - how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!"

That was from the NLT version. Only the first sentence is verse 13, but sometimes the bible is just too good to stop at one verse.

One of my passions is knitting and crocheting, and I love the imagery from that first verse. I can see God touching every stitch of my being; lovingly making sure that I am formed beautifully and wonderfully.

So God knows. He knows that I'm slightly ADD. He knows that sometimes my thoughts are going to wander. And so He calls me back. He calls me out of the daze when I'm thinking about Tiramisu (or whatever!) and calls me back to worship. It's when I allow the other thoughts to enter in and distract me that I am letting other things steal my worship.

God is jealous for our love. Jealous for our affection. Because He knows that in Him alone is there truly fullness of joy, fullness of life, fullness of love. And He longs to shower that affection on us.

So don't let self-condemnation steal your worship. Thinking about Tiramisu? Cool. Once you realize it, recenter your thoughts on God and God alone.

And then later, go eat a big piece of that dessert.

What day is "One day?"

If I were to say to you, "What do you hope to accomplish one day?" what would your response be? For me in the past, my list looked something like this:

One day I will:

Go to Africa (I didn't care where)
Get my Master's degree
Learn to decorate cakes
Get married
Have children
Get my finances in order
Buy a better car
Save money
Change the world
Rescue girls from sex trafficking
Lose weight/Get healthier

All of those things are good things. Really, they are. But what day is "one day'? Is there this magical day that the president comes on and declares a national One Day Holiday?

Yeah that would be a "no."

One day, if we don't put a date on it, could easily never come to pass. So I have decided to be intentional.

If you know me, you know that I am not the most organized person in the world. A good friend actually pointed it out to me and challenged me in that area. A friend that I didn't even realize was aware that I am unorganized. I insist on being organized at work and school, but look at my personal life and you'll see a totally different side.

(Side note: if you don't have friends who are willing to point out your weaknesses and challenge you in those areas, you should get some.  Those are true friends.)

I have had to write out literal lists and make myself take a good look at how I spend my days in order to start accomplishing some of these things. I have had to look at my weakness and determine that my disorganization will no longer rule my life.

So what do you do? What do you do when your list is full of "one days"?

You put a date on them. You look at them and say "this is the day that it will happen."

Some things you may have to stop life to do. Most things you can accomplish in your everyday life.

Going to South Africa? That took two months. Two months which helped to reboot my life, to recenter my focus.

Grad school meant writing out an application and putting money towards that application.

But cake decorating takes one day a week. Saving money and putting it aside for a better car just takes actual determination to not spend everything that comes in. Making a budget takes time to sit down and create, and determination to stick to it. Losing weight is a daily determination to eat healthy foods.

Getting married and having children is not something that I can just make happen, but I can become the person that I want to be as a wife and mother.

National Day of One Day is never going to happen. Life isn't going to slow down so that you can do those things that you've always wanted to accomplish. In fact if you're not careful, life will pass you by and those dreams will just stay dreams.

Let today be one day. Go. Do.