Why’d the turtle cross the road?

As I was driving down a little back road the other day, a box turtle was trying to cross the road. I stopped, put on my flashers, and picked it up to help him across the road. When I did, he hissed, but I helped him anyway. As I got back in my car and drove away, I thought about how I am much like that turtle. God sees that I am trying to cross the road and His hands guide me and protect me from potential danger. Yet I hiss grumbles and complaints and wonder what He’s doing with my life. Instead I should be thanking Him for seeing me and caring about me.

Life has felt very difficult lately and  rather than picturing myself on a quiet little back road, I was visualizing the turtle crossing a stretch of highway in Hawaii that has six lanes in each direction. Cars are zooming past and the turtle is tucked in his shell spinning from all the commotion. Turning around to go back is just as scary as continuing to press forward. A car flattening the turtle seems like the easiest way out.

At counseling the other day, I shared about the turtle because she commented that there has been a lot going on in my life. I agreed and said that it feels like car after car just keeps coming. She said I should draw a picture to remind me of this vision God gave me.

The turtle emoji crossing the H-1

Because I am a good student and want to do my assignment, but don’t actually want to draw, I found a picture of the highway and started adding a turtle emoji. As I did so, I found myself repeating, “You’re never gonna let you’re never gonna let me down” (some of the lyrics from King of My Heart by Bethel Music).

It’s hard to not be able to see the other side of the road. It’s hard to not know when the next car is coming. It’s tough when you can’t see God‘s hand guiding and protecting. It’s lonely when you hide in your shell.

I trust that God wants me to live life abundantly (John 10:10). On days that is hard to believe, these are some verses I have been reading and reciting over and over again:

• “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Psalms‬ ‭43:5‬ ‭ESV‬‬
• “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.” 2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭CSB‬‬ (This one is actually framed and hanging in my bedroom.)
• “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear. The Lord of hosts is with us. ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’” Psalms‬ ‭46:1-2a, 7a, 10a‬ ‭ESV‬‬
• “Since I am afflicted and needy, Let the Lord be mindful of me. You are my help and my deliverer; Do not delay, O my God.” Psalms‬ ‭40:17‬ ‭NASB‬‬
• “And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.” Isaiah‬ ‭30:21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I had an interview at a Christian school today and one of the questions they asked was "What has God been teaching you over the past few months?" And my response was "He's faithful." No matter how many cars zoom by, He is faithful. When I can't see the other side of the road, He is faithful. Even when I'm hiding in my shell, He is faithful.

Summer Service Project - Day 1

The other day I was flipping through an old journal from college and was reminded of a time when I really struggled with what it means to follow Christ. Like many of you, I grew up in a Christian home. I don’t really remember what it’s like to not be saved. I remember sitting in Olympians doing what I was supposed to to earn greenbacks to get some candy at the end of the night. In Olympians, we had to recite some pledges, a verse and a song to get a devotional book. You could earn medals if you completed certain tasks like church attendance, christian service, and bringing your Bible, to name a few. Being spiritual was very much tied to the things I did.

When I got to youth group, things changed some. We didn’t get immediate rewards for all of our good behavior, but we were encouraged to read our Bibles and pray daily, to be pure, to reach out to others through serving.

When I got to Bible college, I was met with a new set of expectations and requirements for being spiritual. Going to chapel so many times a week, attending church regularly, being involved in ministry, all while attending Bible classes throughout the week.

At some point, I got overwhelmed with it all. I can’t live up to those expectations. As much as I try, I fail at reading my Bible daily. Sometimes I’m selfish and don’t always want to love and serve others. I watch tv shows that I probably shouldn’t. Even though I know God loves me, some days I feel unlovable. I drive too fast (almost) all the time. I can’t live up to the expectations that others have placed on me or that I have put on myself.

Victory in Jesus

I don’t know that I’ve ever cried uncontrollably while singing a song before, but I did this morning....

The last few weeks before I moved home from Hawaii, I distinctly remember three different times where I had some sort of experience with friends and was enjoying good conversation with them and just thought I wish I could stay in this moment forever. Laying on the beach at Hanauma Bay with Maile & Abigail after a snorkeling, talking while drying off from the warmth of the sun. Sitting atop Chinaman's Hat (after kayaking to it and climbing up it) with Kileigh reminiscing over the previous two years and discussing our faith and our futures. Eating PB&J while Adele & Jonathan ran around searching for the perfect photo op of the monk seal at Ka'ena Point, looking down the beautiful coastline. But of course no matter how beautiful the location, or how fun the friend, eventually we had to return to reality and continue on with our regularly scheduled lives.

Haunama Bay

Chinaman's Hat

Ka'ena Point

It's not about me! Esther 2

Read Esther 2.

So some time has passed since King Xerxes had his party and disposed of Queen Vashti. More than likely he had been off battling in Greece (history tells us he was defeated in battle around this time) and was now home and longing for his queen.
How is a new queen selected?


Who is Mordecai?


Our main character, Esther, is introduced. What do we learn about her?





What year of King Xerxes reign is Esther selected as queen?


Look back at 1:3. What year of King Xerxes reign is the party where Vashti is disposed of as queen?

Easy math: How many years have passed then?

Where was Mordecai when he overheard the plot to assassinate the king?

Who did he report it to?


Mordecai seems to be a guy who realizes “It’s not all about me!” The first spot he demonstrates this is in verse 7 where he takes Esther in as his own daughter. This isn’t just babysitting on occasion. This is putting aside his thoughts for how his life would be and taking in his cousin to raise as his own. That’s a long term commitment! It can be tough to get enough volunteers to commit to a week of VBS or to even giving up a week to come on this trip and here Mordecai makes a commitment to raise his cousin.
Right now you’re not in a situation where you would have to make a commitment to raise a kid, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other lifelong commitments you could/should make.
Have you ever come to the point where you realized “It’s not all about me!” and given your life to Christ? Yes or No? Hopefully you all circled yes for that and if not, put this down and go find a leader to talk to about that right now! But beyond giving your life to Christ and knowing that you’ll be in heaven one day, have you really committed your life to Him long-term?

At some point in high school, I realized that although I had gotten saved when I was a kid that I didn’t really do anything about it. I knew I was going to heaven and just kind of did whatever  I wanted. Nothing real crazy, but I didn’t really live out the things I learned at church. In order to be committed to Christ long-term, there should be fruit (evidence of Him) in my life. I should be reading my Bible daily, praying constantly, attending church regularly, serving and constantly applying the things I learn to be more and more like Christ. Why? Because it’s not all about me. It’s all about Him!
So again, have you really committed your life to Him long-term? Why or why not?




The second time where Mordecai shows he knows “It’s not all about me!” is when he stops the attempted assassination. Mordecai could have ignored what he heard and been fine. It wasn’t his responsibility to protect the king. However, it was the right thing to do and so he reported it regardless of the consequences it had. 
Sometimes we just ignore things because they don’t make an impact on us one way or the other. You see trash on the ground, but walk by cause you didn’t drop it. You hear a kid getting picked on, but just watch and do nothing. You see food on Pastor Rob’s face before he’s about to preach, but don’t mention it. There is definitely a right thing to do in each of these scenarios if you realize it’s not all about you, and put the needs of others above your own. 
James 4:17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Write about a time that you ignored something because it didn’t really affect you.


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In August, we spent a week at Word of Life in New York doing some work projects. These are devotionals on the book of Esther and the theme "It's not about me!"

Exhausted

This morning while I was driving to work, I was just thinking about how exhausted I am. It's coming to the end of the school year and teachers need to hibernate in the summer. But mostly I'm just exhausted of constantly trying to do the right thing. And a verse came to mind, Galatians 6:9 so let's not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up (ESV). I was very grateful that God put the scripture into my mind. But it doesn't necessarily make it any easier… 

What has God been teaching you recently?

Believing God's Truth

I don’t know when this thinking started to infiltrate my mind. Probably part of the American Dream we’ve all had instilled in us growing up. But I always did well in school so I could go to a good college. I went to a good college and studied hard, so I could get a good job. I stayed pure, so I could find a good husband. I applied lessons I’ve been taught at church and youth group and read my Bible and prayed, so God would bless/honor me. Sure, I’m not perfect and I’ve sinned. But in the grand scheme of things, I’ve done everything right… yet life hasn’t really turned out how I thought it would. Here I am—30 years old, single, living with my parents, not doing the job I imagined. This is not the life I pictured as a kid/teen/college student.

I'm like a bird...

Remember when we started our study on She's Got Issues? I offered Melissa a cup of coffee, and she turned me down. I tried adding half & half, sugar, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and caramel syrup and she still said no. Melissa doesn't like coffee; no matter what I added to it, it was still coffee. When I instead offered her hot chocolate, she gladly accepted.
In her book, Nicole Unice talks about how she thought life with Jesus would be sweet and couldn't figure out why her life wasn't any different than the lives of her neighbors. She found out that Jesus offers so much more. He doesn't just add sugar to our current situation but transforms our lives.


This morning I was walking down the hallway and saw this picture:

It blew me away. Two completely unrelated things and somehow one transformed into the other. What Jesus offers is so amazing! He isn't just changing us from one hot beverage to another. He completely changes us. Paul says this: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ESV). Total transformation. He changes us so significantly that the old looks nothing like the new.
Or even more amazing, something that was dead becomes alive. A bell to a bird. "even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved" (‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬ ESV). Dead in sin, alive in Christ.


If you only looked at the middle two images, you'd think the artist was terrible. They are weird, confusing, ugly, misshapen, lumpy and at least the one is unrecognizable. It's hard to imagine what the artist is thinking when you just look at them. Seeing the images all together we see the transformation; the middle two images make sense because they are part of the process. We don't judge the art by the middle two images, we see the whole picture.
In your life do you ever wonder what God is doing? You feel ugly, weird, confused, broken, misshapen, worthless. Do you wonder what He could possibly do with your life? Don't just look at yourself in the process and forget about the whole picture. God can take our messes, our pain, our brokenness and make something beautiful out of it. In Isaiah 61:3, it says He will make beauty from ashes. Let God transform you and use your life as a testimony to others.

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I love when I can see God in normal everyday things. How has He shown Himself to you lately?

We Keep Accountable Because We Love

Do you have one of those friends who tells you what you don't want to hear? Like the little angel sitting on your
shoulder pointing out to you why you shouldn't make whatever dumb decision you're about to make?

At one point in college, I was going through a bit of a rough time and as a result, I wasn't reading my Bible or praying – I was just going through the motions. One of my roommates called me on it. To this day, I can still hear her telling me that I needed to change – "Good Christian girls can get pregnant before they're married, pastors can have affairs and leave their families..." If you don't live for God daily, you can end up like that too…

Evangelism...

Evangelism... probably not anyone's favorite word. We don't like doing it because we fear people's opinion more than we should. It's just awkward... Just last week, I even read an article put out by Relevant magazine about Why We Don't Evangelize Anymore.

As you may know, we went to NYC and did some street evangelism with the teens back in August. I did not want to do it. Seriously, who wants to walk up to a stranger anywhere, let alone New York City, and start talking to them about Jesus. I tried to figure out how I could weasel my way out of that part of the trip and just join the group for the work projects but finally decided it was all or nothing and went for the whole trip, evangelism and all.

Become Who You Are

Our theme for youth group really, but specifically for Maine this year was Becoming Who You Are. One of the things I feel like we discussed a number of times on the trip was that this is a process. I’m not going to wake up one day and be this super Christian, but it’s a process that day by day God is shaping me into the person He wants me to be. It’s really difficult at times though because the changes are often so gradual that you don’t see them.

Perfect example, I lost lots of weight but each day when I would look in the mirror I wouldn’t notice any sort of change. In my mind, I looked the same day after day. However, I was slowly changing. I would notice that clothes were becoming too big or I’d have to put a new hole in my belt so my pants would stay up.

The biggest way I would notice the change is looking at pictures. When people lose weight they often do before and after pictures.

What's your next step?

What's your next step? That's been then theme of youth group these days. The last topic we discussed is the next step may be evangelism and sharing your story.
In Sunday School yesterday, I gave the teens the opportunity to tell us their story. I went first. Here's my story:

I grew up and a Christian home. One time in elementary school, I had asked my mom if I was going to heaven and she told me I had accepted Jesus into my heart when I was little. So when people asked me how I got saved, I would tell them that I was saved when I was little but that I didn't really remember it, but I knew I was saved. Throughout middle school and ninth grade, I wasn't serious about God. I was a Christian Sundays and Wednesday nights, but not the rest of the week.

Two things changed this.