I love...

1. jolly ranchers. got hooked on them again when our high school pastor stocked up for his kids and left them unattended in his cubicle...rookie mistake.

2. the gym. i got a new membership at mountainside fitness and it is so inspiring to work out around people who are so in shape. it is also pretty depressing.

3. rain. we have gotten a lot of it this summer! so crazy! 

4. our home. we have had our missional community at our home the last 2 weeks and the feeling of watching people i love gather in our living room and learn about God and each other is pretty glorious.

5. cheers. like the show from the 80's. matt & i don't have a tv so sometimes we let ourselves watch netflix in bed on the iPad. matt begged me to watch 1 episode and i got hooked! we love it!

6. old friends. my dearest friend, sarah, and i re-connected over iced tea the other day and we have such a beautiful history together and hopefully a beautiful future, too.

7. fresh & easy. just love it.

8. fans. i love the feeling of circulating air to cool you down. so weird. so true. i have thought this many times the past week.

9. that it's august 24th and i got to drive to the gym today with my windows down! it was 82 degrees at 9am! what?!?

10. second chances. that's a bit cryptic, i know, but i really like 'em.

11. shoes. which reminds me how much i love boots. and how DSW is stocked with their fall collection and i want to purchase them all. every last pair.

You're invited!

Lately I have really tried to intentionally invite God in to every aspect of my day. I know, this might sound juvenile and second nature to a lot of you. But, for me, I have found that the majority of days went on with Bible time in the morning, which included prayer, and then I tucked my Bible on the shelf and went to work (Irony of all ironies...I work at a church so a common misconception is that all of us are sitting in a circle all day singing koom-by-ah, talking about the things of God 24/7). 

What I think I have never heard ever in my life is that maybe, just maybe having a "quiet time", "devotional", "devo", or whatever else you may choose to call it isn't just meant to be a one-time sit down session per day. While it is a great practice and Spiritual discipline, I am left to wonder if maybe God wants to have access to my heart and mind the other 16 or so hours I am awake per day. For awhile, it was a stretch to even find the time to sit down per day at all. I would give myself an 'attagirl for the day if I would sit down and fly through whatever devotional I was reading. And that sufficed for awhile. And then reading my Bible for 10 minutes a day left me satisfied. And then 20. But, it's funny how if you give God a doorway in to your day, He has a way of seeping in and wanting more.

It's also funny how I want to give Him more! I was in a meeting this week with some of our Micah 6:8 Team leaders. We broke in to groups for some discussion time over some passages. After our group was done with discussion, one of the staff members was vulnerable enough to tell us how much he yearns for time away with the Lord but he just can't find the time right now in this season of life. I so appreciated his honesty and could identify at one point in my life. But right now, I am in this sweet season that I have to force myself to get up from the table to go to work because all I want to do is sit and bask in my Father's presence. I am learning and growing by leaps and bounds right now and it is so exciting for me. While I say this, I am also in an incredibly tough season of life, too...so don't think that a "good" relationship with God equals daisies and sunshine. But as I pondered the past two weeks, I wouldn't change them for a single thing. Because I am learning to intentionally invite God to come with me: come with me as I drive (which, coincidentally means a lot less road rage), come with me as I work out, come with me as I grocery shop, come with me as I enter this meeting to discuss church membership strategies, come with me as I talk with Matt. But it has been hard! I have to constantly remind myself to bring God along. To let the Holy Spirit work through me and give me answers or words when I'm in a conversation.

Remember this post? Well, I am reading a book that has something painfully similar (albeit, way more masterful) and I want to share it with you. It's from a book called Story by Steven James:

boxing god.
come here, god, i'd like to keep you in this little shoe box. i'd like to pull you out whenever i need you and put you away whenever i don't. come on. climb in.
there you go...now, let me just slide this lid over the top and...
okay, now, i'll just set you here in the closet and keep you handy for a rainy day...
hmm...i have to say, i didn't think you'd fit so easily. i actually thought i might have to really pound on you to squeeze you in there.
imagine that. pounding on you to make you fit! ha. how funny is that?
well, g-bye. you be a good little god, now. don't go climbing out of your box. i'll be back to feed you later.



This poem pretty well sums up my past relationship with God. I would call out to Him when I needed Him or, even when I wanted to praise Him for something...but I would categorize my life in to "Carley time" and "God time" (about 90/10 to be honest).

How about you? Do you find it challenging to invite God to go with you throughout your day? I challenge you to start literally verbalizing your invitation to Him. That's what I have done. I wrote it in my journal and then whenever I'm driving or whenever I realize I haven't invited Him, I make it a point to do so. I didn't come up with this idea all on my own.

I was blessed with one of the most incredible bosses this world has ever known. And she would do this. We would be in the middle of lunch, talking about something, and she would just speak to God like he was sitting at the table with us. She would invite Him to speak in to our conversation. And it was so............weird at first! But then I started realizing how beautiful it was and how foolish I had been! He's present with us already, so we are silly not to speak to Him and include him in to the conversation! It also hit me that God's not going to barge His way in to our conversations and coming and goings without our invitation. Our God doesn't force entry. He merely waits for the invitation and will take what He gets. I invite you to give Him more.


Selah.

I'm back.

Hi friends.

I realize it has been embarrassingly long since I have blogged and I'm not quite sure how to do this anymore. Plus, I'm not sitting at The Coffeeshop so I'm even more out of my element.

But alas, I will blog it out.

As I sat this evening reading through several old blog posts, I realize how much they are truly soothing to my soul. Blogging releases a certain amount of fear that bottles up inside of me. It allows me to unveil portions of my soul that are otherwise shoved down deep. But I feel I need to apologize to you, dear reader, because I am not blogging for you. For a while, I think I was. I would read and edit and chop up sentences that didn't sound fancy enough and just when I had as shiny of a blog post as I could conjure, I would post it as my status on Facebook and anxiously await for people to "Like" it or comment.

And as I read through blog posts of Yore, it has become clear to me that I get tripped up over the same hurdles in life over and over. And then I stand up, brush myself off...and get pummeled again. And so I hit my knees, praying that God will somehow, someway against all odds find it in His God-sized heart to take me back. Pitiful, broken, scared, scarred, wounded and all. But then I read things over and over throughout the span of Scripture that just enamor me.

That God is actually begging ME to take HIM back. He is waiting for me with open arms to stop hating myself, beating myself up, doubting myself, being fearful and just run in to His open arms. I read in Micah 6:3-5 when God is desperately trying to remind His people of His faithfulness. It makes me cry to read and just try to imagine God's broken heart as he pleads with them to remember. And I read through Hosea when God continually runs after His unrepentant people. And I read Song of Solomon, that, yes, is written about lovers but so beautifully portrays God's affection for His bride, The Church.  And I read of the Prodigal Son. Whose father sees him before he even knows about it and there is a party upon his return. And then I read of Jesus. Who loved us so much that He was innocent yet went to a cross to pay my penalty.

I know that 99% of my posts are written from The Coffeeshop. I also know that 99% of my posts include an excerpt from a song that is ripping through my soul. Well, my friend, I may be typing from the comfort of my own home this evening (yep, that's right...we have a HOME. OUR HOME), but I do have a song! So some things are still the same. Holy Cow. Christy Nockels. "Be Loved". Here are the words. But please go to Spotify or iTunes and please let her voice sooth that spot in your soul. 


Have you ever let yourself be loved, by the One who made you?
Have you ever told your soul to believe that His heart is on your side?
You could even try to run away but there's nothing you could do,

So just be loved. Be loved He loves you.
Just be loved. Be loved He loves you.

Have you ever let yourself be held by the One who holds this world?
Have you ever told your soul to rejoice, that His arms are open wide
You could even try to run away but He'd come running after you

So just be held. Be held He holds you.
Just be held. Be held He holds you.

We didn't earn it, He just chose to give it and it's in our resting that we rise up singing "Rejoice!" again I say, "Rejoice!" "Rejoice!" 

You are loved! Be loved, He loves you! 
You are loved! Be loved, He loves you! He loves you!  



Selah, my friends. He loves you.