beautiful little girl

If you live in the world today, you're probably aware that there is a very distorted perception of beauty going around. And if you've spent some time in Christian culture, you've probably heard at least a few messages about inner beauty and self esteem, which were honestly not all that helpful. I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do have a story. 

I was at the House of Prayer teaching for our 6-12 year olds a few months ago. I love teaching kids, because they simply believe. Open hearts, open minds, willing to take Jesus at His word. It's amazing. This particular week, while all the kids were arriving, I was walking around talking to the kids one on one. They love it when an adult talks to them one on one, and they love it even more if an adult listens to them! One a particular little girl, who is about 7 years old, had just gotten a haircut. I stooped down to talk with her and asked her how she liked it. She smiled and flipped her hair around while she answered my question and told me the story of how her mommy wanted her to get it cut. After the story ended, I took a moment to look into her eyes and speak seriously to her. I told her, "You are so beautiful and special." Then I asked, "Do you believe that?" 


She paused, looking around while thinking about my question. After a few minutes she looked back at me. A smile spread across her face while she responded, "Yes, I do." 


Amen. 
I'm beautiful. I'm special. 


You are too. 
Do you believe that? 

there's nothing like salvation at Waffle House

Do you know how much God wants people? 

No? Yeah, me neither. But it's times like this one when I begin to understand the depth of His desire a little bit more. 

I was with some friends and we went out to eat after a service at Ihop-atlanta. Of course our natural late night choice was the classic breakfast menu found only at Waffle House. 

We had a wonderful time inside, enjoying everything from pecan waffles to great conversation with our waitress. One of my close friends, who was there that night, is incredibly intentional about loving people and sharing the Gospel. No matter where he goes or who he is around, he is always listening to people, caring about them, and talking about Jesus. This night was no different. He began a conversation with our waitress about who she thought that God was. After talking back and forth for a little while, she opened up and shared that most of her anger with God came from abuse in her past. We continued to encourage her, and eventually asked if we could pray for her and ask the Lord to encounter her with the love that He has for her. She agreed, despite her previous harsh responses, and we prayed for her. 

As we were leaving the store, I was thinking about how much I wanted to be like my friend, unafraid of people's opinions, unashamed of speaking the Gospel, and constantly loving. I was headed to my car, praying for the Lord to give me boldness to share the Gospel, when I walked past a group of waffle house workers standing in the parking lot, taking a smoke break. As I passed by them, a particular cook caught my attention. We had said hello to him inside. He was a rather large man, and standing in the dark parking lot, I was more than a little intimidated. He was smoking a cigarette, and when I walked past him I just had a feeling that he didn't really like smoking, but he couldn't quit. So now I'm freaking out, thinking about the prayer that I just prayed for more boldness to share the Gospel. I'm wondering what this guy's smoking problem has to do with Jesus, and how I could start a conversation or if I should just keep walking. But I couldn't just ignore him. Not when I had asked to be able to love people more. So I decided I somehow had to go for it.

Cue fear, uncertainty, and awkwardness. So turning around with my stomach churning, I walk back to the group of men standing together and deliver my opening line to this cook, 

"Hey do you like smoking?"

He gives me a puzzled face. "No. I hate it."

"What if I told you that I know how you can quit?"

"Yeah. I've tried to quit before but I can't."

"Yeah. I'm sure you've tried. I don't think you can quit on your own. But I know someone who has all the power you need to quit smoking and I know that he wants to give that power to you. His name is Jesus." 

(cheesy, right? I told you it was awkward.)

He looks at me, pauses for a minute, then he turns toward me and walks away from his group of friends. It wasn't until he was standing in front of me that I realized this was a real chance to share the Gospel, and that it could have real life and death consequences for this man.

One of my friends walked over to join us, and we started a forty minute conversation about Jesus. My friend and I shared the Gospel. This man shared about his life. We invited him to pray to receive Jesus into his heart, but he was somewhat uncertain and wasn't sure if he wanted to. 

Right before we were about to leave, my ridiculously bold friend who had been waiting on us walks up, 

"Hey man. Did you get saved yet?"

The man kinda smiled and kinda laughed,  "Nah man."

"Why not? Didn't they tell you about how good salvation is? Don't you want that?" 

"I mean, yeah I guess I want it."

"Okay. Well, all you have to do is invite Jesus into your life. Do you want to pray with me?" 

"Okay."

And then standing in the waffle house parking lot, this man prayed to receive Jesus. 

I love new life. I tell you these stories, not so that you would think I'm cool. I mean, I am AWESOME :) But that's not my point. My point is, Jesus loves people so much that He will use anyone to reach out and change a life. Little ridiculous me, nervous, scared, and seriously awkward, started a conversation with this man that ended in a life-changing decision. That is called the power of the Holy Spirit. And it's freely available to every believer. 

Miracle.

I promised stories.... here is a favorite of mine: 


  
It was a fairly normal day in the prayer room at IHOP-Atlanta. On saturdays, we have a corporate prayer meeting at 4pm to prayer for physical and emotional healing to be released in the city of Atlanta. We pray from 4-6pm and then at 6pm we have a healing service and we invite anyone who would like to receive prayer to come and we have teams trained to minister to them. 


On this particular Saturday, I noticed a man sitting in the corner of the prayer room, reading his bible, looking very normal, except for the fact that he was wearing sunglasses. I remember thinking, "Okay, well that's a little weird, but I guess he thinks he's cool." At the end of the prayer meeting, the man raised his hand to receive healing prayer, but a lot of people do, so I didn't think it was out of the ordinary. I prayed in general for all the people in the room to receive healing, and then I went to meet with the healing teams to get ready for the service. 


When we had our times of individual ministry, my team and I were sitting in our ministry room, waiting to see who we would be praying for. We heard a knock on the door, and when I went to open it I found the sunglasses man from the prayer room! He wasn't alone either, he was with his wife, and his young son, who was about five years old. He and his family came in and sat down, and we asked how we could pray for him. They had driven down 5 hrs from Charleston, SC. He had been diagnosed with Lyme disease some time ago. He described his bad days and his good days. A good day involved walking around, and being able to eat and talk, while still having to wear sunglasses inside and out because his eyes were so sensitive to light he couldn't go without them. A bad day meant that he couldn't get out of bed, or talk, or move. On a bad day, he was totally dependent on his wife for everything. That very week, he had had a string of bad days in a row, and his wife told him that no matter how he felt on Saturday morning, she was planning on driving him down to IHOP to get healing prayer. 


We began to pray, asking the Lord to release the presence of the Holy Spirit in the room, and something changed. 


The man and his wife both began to cry as we laid our hands on their shoulders and prayed. Within a few minutes, the man was kneeling on the floor, crying out to the Lord. When we asked him what had had happened, he described feeling heat throughout his body and sensing the presence of the Lord. He and his family thanked us for the prayer and went out into the lobby of IHOP. 


While they were sitting in the lobby, one of my close friends heard them talking about their time in the ministry room. The man was describing how his eyes were no longer sensitive to light! He said he felt so much better! He looked down at his young son and asked,


 "Have you ever seen Daddy without sunglasses on?" 


The 5 year old smiled back, 


"No Daddy. But I like it!" 


Amen. 

the beginning

My senior year of high school, I had the same thought process that many 17 year-olds have: "What am I going to do with the rest of my life?!? I have to know right now."

So I prayed about my life and assumed that God would work it out. I didn't really expect Him to answer my questions, I more thought that my life would somehow turn out the right way because I prayed about it ahead of time.

Well, I was sitting in my room one night, having devotional time before I went to sleep. I had been reading a book that was a collection of missionary stories, and this night, I had the sudden understanding that before I got to the end of the book I would know what I needed to do with my life. It was just a simple thought, but it came with surprising clarity. I quickly became excited, nervous, and expectant. I was about three quarters of the way through the book and the last 50 pages or so seemed to fly by. I read quickly, pausing at every story, wondering which one would hold the key to unlocking my destiny.

Nothing stood out at all.

I finished the book, and undeterred, I turned back to the beginning, reading the introduction that I had originally skipped.

Nothing.

I'm beginning to get a little worried. I hastily flipped to the end of the book, searching for the epilogue. I read quickly, coming to a stop on the last page, where I saw this reference...

Jeremiah 1:5

Now I'm reaching for my Bible... waiting for the "life-changing" verse... and then I read:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." 

I love it when God speaks because only He can take a simple phrase and change your entire life. I knew in that moment that I was called to be in full-time ministry, and I could never have a "normal" life. I knew He was asking me to be a missionary. I knew He was asking me to follow Him to the ends of the earth and back again. I knew that He saw all my questions and had very real answers. I knew that I was terrified.

My response went something like this:
"God, no! I cannot be a missionary. I have no idea what to do or how to do it. I can't do this and I don't want too......" and I continued ranting...

I'm very glad He's patient. VERY glad.

His response was much briefer:
"Keep reading."

and so I read on....

"Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I (Jeremiah/me)said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.” (at this point, I'm in full agreement) But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ (and snap... I just got called out) You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

And what do you say after God says that to you??
Hopefully, not much. Actually, hopefully nothing, other than "yes."  So that's what I said. "Yes, God." Yes, I will go wherever you send me and say whatever you command me. Yes, I will give up my own plans and live by yours. Yes, I will be obedient, not loving my own life, but loving You.

So here I am 6 years later, and I just want to wake up everyday and say yes to everything God asks of me. I think that my favorite part is the dream I have of a day to come when I will stand before the throne and present to the Lamb a lifetime of saying "yes" in the smallest moments. He became a faithful witness so I could be one too.