We as people under estimate the power we have when we take time to sit down and show another that we care. Engaging with people about their lives is a key that unlocks the gates people put around their hearts. We all love to talk about ourselves, we all love to be asked questions about our children, our families, our dogs and cats. So why then do we find ourselves asking the question of what can we do to show people love? One of the greatest lessons I have learned in the weeks I spent in Thailand and Cambodia was the beautiful simplicity of reaching someone elses heart. People want to be heard, they want to know that what they say has meaning and value. To love is too see a person in the eyes of God , to see them as a treasure, and to extend that love is to simply invest, dig deep into their heart with no agenda besides they are worth it, simply to ask, simply to be there when they pour their heart out to you, simply to let them cry on your shoulder and to cry with them. Sharing the love of Jesus can look like so many different things, but often times we can forget that it can also look like asking someone how their day really was, and taking the time to sit down and listen. We are caught up in what should we say, how should we say it, how to become better at speaking, when most of us need to learn how to become better listeners. We open up to God because we know that we can trust Him, we know that He will not turn a blind eye or ignore what is on our hearts. We come to God because we know He will always listen to us, that He is never to busy to hear what we have to say. As Christians we are called to represent who God is, and so then what kind of picture of God are we painting if we are too busy to listen to those who are crying out? There is so much power when we silence ourselves long enough to hear another person share their story. We can learn so much from listening to those we are trying to reach. If I were to challenge you I suppose I would say take the time to listen to those around you, invest, engage, take initiative to know their hearts, and this goes for anyone you meet. Everyone is loved equally by God, everyone has a story, and everyone deserves to be heard. Will you be the one to listen?    

One thing that I ponder often is identity.  It is a topic that I have struggled with for much of my life, and something that God continues to give me revelation in.  As my last post, these thoughts came to me on a bus ride in Thailand, this time however I had a chance to write it down.  Here goes...

The past happened but does not define who God made you to be.  Your worth isn't something that fluctuates as the tide, but is something you find when you abide in the truth that you are created in the image of the creator.  Freedom is found when you take hold of what you've already been told, for it is not only the knowing that you are a beloved treasure but it is knowing in your heart in a way that affects the way you live and relate to yourself, to others, and to God.  When we look in the mirror, analyzing our every flaw inside & out, we are looking at a distorted picture of who we truly are.  Insecurity is a weed planted in our human nature,  one that can so easily destroy the beauty of our lives. While letting insecurity consume our self image we are releasing our trust in God.  We start doubting the creator of the universe because our vision of who we are is clouded by the voices of society, and who we are in Christ stops being enough.  We must take time to realize who our maker is, the one who placed the stars in the Milky Way,  that is the same God who knows the hairs on our heads, who gave us the color of our eyes, who placed in us a variety of gifts and talents.  He formed our most inward parts and knit us together in our mother's womb.  He designed us the way we are for a reason, a specific purpose.  How can we not trust that?  In a world that is constantly changing we should run after the rest we find in our identity, the one thing that will never change because we are God's children.  We are His beloved, Jesus died for our sins.  These are eternal truths, just like you will always be loved, you will always be treasured, you will always be worth it to Jesus.  We were born in Gods thought and then created by Him, what can be more spectacular than that?  What more reassurance do we need to let the strongholds of insecurities fall away?  It does not matter what happens today, tomorrow, or in the rest of your life.  Two things will remain:  You are loved by God and You are enough.  God made you and He saw that it was good.