Month: January 2012

Go Big or Go Home

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They say everything is bigger in Texas and my recent trip to Houston did not under deliver.   No better way to kick-start my 2012 One Word Resolution of Connect, than to attend a Living Proof Ministries conference alone.

Yes, I said alone. 

I attended Beth Moore’s Siesta Scripture Memory Team Celebration in Houston, TX. In the spirit of the Texans, If I’m going to connect, I’d better go big or go home! So, I packed up my fear and anxiety and headed south to celebrate the scripture memory work I had completed in 2011.

When I pulled my rental car into the parking lot at Houston’s First Baptist Church, I prayed for connection. Please Lord, send me a friend.  Of course, I prayed for this before hand, but I needed to remind God one more time.  This was not the time for unanswered prayers.

While standing in line for the rest room, I assumed the lady behind me was also there alone so I asked if she wanted to sit with me.  She was delighted by my offer and off we went (of course after using the facilities and washing up). 

We chose our seats and away she went – talking to everyone around us, introducing us and making friends.  If the Lord wasn’t going to find me a friend, then she certainly would!

Not only did I make a connection by sharing stories over coffee and cookies, but I made an important connection with my heart.  I cried when Beth Moore walked on the stage and I cried when she walked off the stage for the final time.  I had waited an entire year for this celebration and it was finally here! I felt so privileged to sit and listen to her teach.  Her passion and love of the Lord has been instrumental in my walk towards freedom and the chance of seeing her live was overwhelming (in a good way). 

I did not want the feeling to end.

Our celebration was focused on 2 John 1: The Love Letter.  Beth talked about the importance of walking in love and why we should be careful not to lose everything we have been working for – a full reward from God.

I am not sure how God can top this connection, because my heart is so full at the moment.  But I cannot wait to see where my walk leads me and what other connections I make.  As I see it, this is truly the beginning; a beginning of deep-rooted connections as only He can make.

Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the LORD. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. – Exodus 34:10

 

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Making the Connection

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Playing games was a favorite pastime of mine as a child.  Playing Connect 4 was a game played frequently.  The winner was declared by any player lining up 4 discs of the same color whether it be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

If only connections – connections with people, connections with knowledge – were that simple.  I would be declared a winner time and time again.

The problem I struggle with is my heart connecting to what I know in my mind.  My senses don’t fully grasp what I am experiencing.  It seems my heart is not making the connection.

So I choose “connect” as my one word resolution for 2012.  In an effort to start this journey to connect, I prepare myself for the Daniel’s Fast – 21 days of fasting.  Daniel had to set himself in a position of humbling and sacrifice to gain a heart of understanding.  It only seems right that I do too.

“Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.” Daniel 10:12

With every step I take, I pray another connection is made and my heart will be complete.

“And I will give them a heart to know (recognize, understand, and be acquainted with) Me, that I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart. ” – Jeremiah 24:7 (AMP)