My full heart and request for you to join me in doing a work that matters

My heart is full today because I was able to do what I love. It’s a program called cooltable. Through it I was able to go into a school, play games with a group of kids, and begin a conversation about three key traits we believe every student has: value, potential, and purpose. It was the kickoff of a twelve lesson journey with these students where they will learn how to navigate a few key areas of life while discovering their value, realizing their potential, and believing they have purpose.

This is something that I absolutely LOVE to do because I believe in the power of the next generation to be a catalyst for positive world change. I see a generation ready to rise up and take on the issues of their day; to be leaders that stand up and speak up, and who always find a way to unite in love in order to promote the betterment of their world and their fellow man.

Even with all the potential they have, I know that the next generation cannot become the leaders they were created to be without the support, encouragement, and leadership of the current generation. They need this generation to speak life to them, to believe in them, and to see potential in them that they can’t yet seem to see in themselves. This is why I am grateful to so many who have come along side of my husband and I to do just that, be the hope for the next generation.  

So yes my heart is full today, but I know that we are not even close to doing all the work there is to do. I know that the mission is greater than me, my family, and our current volunteers. To spread the message of value, potential, and purpose to the next generation it’s going to take A LOT of us working together.

So I’m wondering … would you like to join us in doing a work that matters? If so, contact cooltableministries@gmail.com.

I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Step out of the broken and into the restored.

That one, don't use her. She's damaged. Those are the thoughts that taunt me with regret and press me to fall into submission.

I mean what defense do I have. It's true. The damaged, broken, made a lot of wrong choices and carried a lot of shame girl is me.

     How could THAT girl possibly carry a message of hope?

     How could THAT girl possess anything of value?

     How could THAT girl move from shame to confidence?

Believe me, some days I sit sidelined trying to answer those very questions.

Then I remember that my story doesn't end with the taunting thoughts of worthlessness but rather the truth of who I am through the forgiveness and love of Jesus.

Don't you just love a good plot twist? I do because it means that my story no longer ends with brokenness. Instead, it goes a little like this:

That one. She may have been damaged, but she's not identified by her damage because she has been restored. So that one, use her. Because she knows what it's like to feel hopeless, use her to share a message of hope. Because she has looked for value in so many wrong places and knows it doesn't satisfy the soul, use her to point to things of real value. Because she has carried shame and then experienced the greatness of forgiveness, use her to show others the freedom forgiveness brings.

Now listen, don't think for one second that this starts and stops with me or that it is even all about me.

This is for you too. Maybe our shames and shortcomings are different, but the goal is the same. God wants to move you from the captivity of your past fears, failures, and regrets into a place where you can live confidently in His love.

Go ahead and find your plot twist. Step out of the broken and into the restored.

Identity Crisis

Whoa wait! Who am I again?

That's the question that often comes to mind when I am in the middle of day to day life. It's in the moments when no big accomplishments seem to be propelling me forward, and I am in the heat of the endurance race of life that I lose sight of my value and forget who I am.

I start striving. I start comparing. I start whining. I start wandering.

It's in this plateau of life that I seem to forget my purpose because growth slows and everything seems to be a grind.

Seriously, I start flailing around life in attempt to keep from drowning in the depths of the mundane.

My inner self begins this narrative: I need to be accomplished. I need to be popular. I need to start something new. Who can I serve? What can I start? When will the next big surge of life come and push me forward?

Then as all my value seeking efforts fail me, I realize that I am indeed in an identity crisis which leads me to the my initial question ‘who am I?’

Seeing that the question can't be filled with the external because it is ever changing sending me through success and failure, busy seasons and slow seasons, times of being surrounded with friends and times of being alone I have to to look to something more.

I have to look to the unchanging. To the Creator of my soul. To the One who tells me I am wonderfully and fearfully made. The One who tells me I am loved and redeemed. The One who tells me He has brought me into underserved grace so that I may share in His glory. The One who knew I wasn't enough but didn't let that stop Him from dying and being enough for me.

What I'm saying is that when I get tossed about on every thought and action leading me seeking my value and my worth, I have to look to Jesus because, for me, who I am rests in who He is in me.

So how about you? Do you go through seasons of life that try you and make you feel unimportant and small?

If so, perhaps focusing on the love the Creator has for you will help you regain your identity and allow you to rest in the slower less extravagant seasons of life.

Reclaim your identity this week and live every moment like it’s big!