Thursday, April 30, 2009

Christian Broadcasting Network

Hey Everyone! Part of my last post: "A Letter From God" is being featured in a devotional today on CBN.com. Here is the link: http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/devotions/markins_letgodspeak.aspx

Thank you Diane for promoting this...I appreciate you!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

A Letter From God

On the last night of Glorieta Christian Writing Conference, I was praying and having some very intimate time with the Lord. The following are the words He laid on my heart that night and I came across them in my journal today. I think they are meant to share, I pray your heart will be touched.

My precious child,

I am here. You are not alone. I have held you in my hands for all of the days of your life. I will move mightily and you will be amazed. Do not fear, do not doubt, trust in me and know that I am God. Be patient, I am working things you will never understand, and I am.

Dear one, turn your heart to me, and remember that I am not against you. I find you in my favor and because of where you are I will be able to move mountains. Do not question me, but allow me to work in my way in my timing.

I saved you from the darkness; I pulled you out of the pit. I have a plan for you. You are mine. Because I love you I am working, though you cannot see it, I am working. Though you doubt I am in this, you must remember that it is because of me that you can do all things. I am your God, you are my child. I AM.

Proclaim me to all, I want you to speak of me, I want you to shout from the rooftops how I have moved mountains for you. I want you to put no other Gods before me, I want you to declare yourself mine, let there be no prideful arrogance in you. Confess your frustrations and worries to me; lay them at my feet and trust me to carry them for you.

I bless you with many gifts and talents; I have a purpose and a plan for this new life I have given you. You may not understand it now, and I know you are very capable, but it is because of me you are capable. Dear child of mine, do you think you are alone? Do you believe I have forsaken you, search your heart and you will find me in ways you have never thought possible. Search your heart, and know what I am doing. Search your heart my child, know that I am creating a new life in you; a life worth living.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

A Courtesy...

I've titled this post "A Courtesy" but what exactly does that mean? The concept can be subjective and open to anyone's interpretation. For the sake of this post I'm referring to courtesy is something that is offered to someone else. For example, if you know you're going to be late for a meeting do you call ahead to let them know you're running behind? Or if you are invited to a function do you reply quickly? You would be offering a courtesy to those people waiting for you at your meeting if you made that quick informative phone call, or if you let the host of the function know right away if you're planning to attend. These are simple acts of courtesy that I enjoy receiving.

What does courtesy look like to you? Is it a helpful person holding the door open, or a service agent on the phone politely helping you through your bank statement, or perhaps it's another driver in a car allowing you to scoot in front of them in a traffic jam. I love when someone holds the door for me or a polite service person works patiently with me. I also enjoy when I'm invited to participate in a function, perhaps to speak or facilitate and I'm given the appropriate information upfront so that I can prepare.

We all know what it's like to be on the receiving end of discourteous or even rude people. No one likes that. One time I was visiting the new Nordstroms here in San Antonio and was working with a salesperson who would receive commission for my purchases. When it came time to check out we walked to the counter and he began to process my bill. He politely chatted with me while adding up my bill until the phone rang.

Now, we have to stop here for just a second because this is an issue that goes way back to when I was a customer service person at Nordstrom. We were trained to never answer the phone if we were waiting on a customer. To be fair, I don't know if their policy has changed but in any case for me old habits die hard. My sales clerk stopped working on my order and while I'm standing right in front of him proceeded to answer the phone, take another person's order and actually left the counter while explaining to me that whoever it was on the phone had an urgent need and he would be right back.
I stood there sort of dumbfounded, stunned really and watched him walk away. Hmmm, that in my opinion is the perfect picture of someone being discourteous. He could have easily finished my order and sent me on my way, allowing himself the freedom to work on whatever urgent need the person on the phone call had.
More recently I was asked to speak at a function and I pressed the coordinator repeatedly for the date, time and details of what I was going to be speaking on. It took three emails, and three different people to finally be told the date of the event and wouldn't you know it, I had a previous engagement.

So, I share these little things about offering courtesy because it is just such an important thing. As I raise my children one of the tenents of my parenting is to speak with politeness and to treat each other with respect, offering courtesy whenever we have the chance. We all want to be treated fairly and with courtesy and so it's important to remember and maintain what courtesy looks like to us so that we in turn can offer it to others.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Qualities That Speak of God

One of my favorite Christian writers is John Eldredge. I love the way his writing makes me feel like God really understands who I am and what I was meant for. He and his wife have written a beautiful book called Captivating. It captures the essence of woman, what she was made for and how God views her. After reading this book I felt confirmation that God truly does pursue me, desire me and find me worthy. Here is an excerpt from Captivating...

Qualities That Speak of God
April 8, 2009

Can there be any doubt that God wants to be sought after? The first and greatest of all commands is to love him (Mark 12:29–30; Matt. 22:36–38). He wants us to love him. To seek him with all our heart. A woman longs to be sought after, too, with the whole heart of her pursuer. God longs to be desired. Just as a woman longs to be desired. This is not some weakness or insecurity on the part of a woman, that deep yearning to be desired. God feels the same way. Remember the story of Martha and Mary? Mary chose God, and Jesus said that was what he wanted. “Mary has chosen what is better” (Luke 10:42). She chose me. Life changes dramatically when romance comes into our lives. Christianity changes dramatically when we discover that it, too, is a great romance. That God yearns to share a life of beauty, intimacy, and adventure with us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3). This whole world was made for romance—the rivers and the glens, the meadows and the beaches. Flowers, music, a kiss. But we have a way of forgetting all that, losing ourselves in work and worry.
Eve—God’s message to the world in feminine form—invites us to romance. Through her, God makes romance a priority of the universe. So God endows Woman with certain qualities that are essential to relationship, qualities that speak of God. She is inviting. She is vulnerable. She is tender. She embodies mercy. She is also fierce and fiercely devoted. As the old saying goes, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” That’s just how God acts when he isn’t chosen. “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not share your affection with any other god!” (Ex. 20:5 NLT). A woman’s righteous jealousy speaks of the jealousy of God for us. Tender and inviting, intimate and alluring, fiercely devoted. Oh yes, our God has a passionate, romantic heart. Just look at Eve. (Captivating , 29–30)
Don't you love that? Did you have any idea that our relationship with God is part of a great romance?