It’s an L-word with a lot of meaning. This weekend, I felt like a lot of other L-words, that are a bit less exciting than the love word. Lousy. Lame. Loser. Lacking strength. Little help.

Long story short, I was ill and pretty helpless. Not to be dramatic about a temporary stomach bug, but the last couple of days have been pretty miserable. I’ll spare you the yucky details, but sleeping on the bathroom floor all night sure isn’t the way I intended to spend my weekend. My saving grace was the love and care my parents, fiancé, and aunts, who happened to be visiting at the same time, too.

By the time I made it back to my apartment last night, I thought for sure my energy would be replenished. I desperately needed this energy if I was going to be any help in getting my belongings out of my two bedroom apartment.

Full disclosure: I have less than one week to be moved out before my lease is up. Yes, I’ve had this deadline long enough to have been fully prepared, but as I’ve already realized in other instances, a rather hectic professional schedule continues to override proper planning in my personal life. That’s a topic we’ll have to tackle another day.

So as with most experiences in life that make for interesting stories in retrospect, I woke up this morning to find I was still stuck in the ill, helpless, and weak category. If that sounds like a disaster for moving day, you’re on the right track. But it was crunch time and I have some amazing people who love me more than I deserve.

The term lifesaver came to mind this afternoon. I had been comfortably positioned on top of an air mattress in my spare bedroom, wrapped in about four blankets for about three hours. I was only woken twice from hearing my front door open and voices discussing packing strategies and moving techniques. Earlier in the day, I had curled up on the floor of my bedroom and living room making decisions on where to pack and move my belongings. By lunchtime I was worn out. Lucky for me, the love from my lifesavers (Mom, Shane & aunts) pushed through and they didn’t give up.

Moving is never fun, but to move someone else’s junk without their help? That qualifies as angelic behavior in my book. All the while I never caught a whiff of resentment that I was not able to assist. I kept imagining if I was in their shoes, and wondered if I could manage to serve so selflessly and work so hard without even a thought of making a snide comment or share a disgruntled look.

Everyone who helped today had plenty of other tasks they wanted and needed to complete on their day off from work, instead of moving my stuff. It would have been easy, and understandable if they would have called it quits when I wasn’t able to continue. But they pushed through, because they love me and they are my lifesavers.

I owe them my love and service in return, to be as selfless and loving as they have been to me now and always. I’ll remember their love and support when it’s my turn to make a difference in someone’s life. I think that’s why God gives us lifesavers, as a way to teach us how to serve each other. Just another blessing from above and a reminder that God is good!!

When is a time you’ve seen lifesavers work in your life? How have you been a lifesaver to someone else?

This piece of scripture displays God’s intention for how we should love. These verses exhibit that love is an action, not just a word.

Love is an action we are called to show everyone in our lives. Tomorrow isn’t just about having a special someone to spoil with sweets and love. Tomorrow is another day that we are called to love those people God puts in our lives.

As tomorrow nears we have a chance to rid ourselves of any shallow expectations for an ideal “love” life. This is the day we can declare new expectations and a new purpose to show love the way God intended. If you’re feeling a void in your heart, God is waiting to sweep you off your feet. Last week I wrote about falling in love with God being the best thing that ever happened to my heart.

God’s eternal love is so much more filling than all the sweet treats and fancy dinners in this temporary life. Now that’s something worth advertising.

• God’s Love Never Fails
• For the Love of Farming

Sticking with the love theme, I think it’s time to talk about dating! Just last week, my friends and I were laughing about the dating horror stories we’ve had and how we could write a book about all the nightmares. From awkward first dates to dramatic breakups and everything in between. Luckily, the only real dating story I truly remember is the one that led me to my husband-to-be. Seriously, every previous relationship now seems blurry and out of focus, which is the way it should be. Making that transition from an unsuccessful dating life to now preparing for marriage, is something way beyond me and the charming man who is going to give me a new last name. The Big Guy upstairs is the One who made this happen. Let me explain…

I fell in love with this sign and can't wait to hang it in the house Shane and I will share as newlyweds. I hope seeing this daily will be a good reminder that our gift of love is directly from God.

Basically, the moment I realigned my heart with God, was the moment God blessed my heart to love the way He taught us how to love.

I learned this lesson the hard way, but I hope by sharing my story you can learn from my experience. This is not an easy story to share, especially in such a public fashion. First, I pray you won’t judge me for my imperfections. Mostly I pray you will benefit from my personal experience that it might either spark a desire to start a relationship with God, or even save the relationship you have with Him before it starts to fade.

I’m so embarrassed by the way I drifted away from God during college. Sure, I went to church with my family when I visited home. I prayed before meals and at night on occasion. But I lacked the full-time faith and relationship that made me close to God and striving to please Him. The fact that Sunday morning church became an optional activity while I was at school, really kept me from growing in Christ. Because I wasn’t willing to wake up early on Sundays, I no longer had that connection, I wasn’t making God a priority, and I lost God as the focus of my heart. With that, my relationships suffered.

It wasn’t until a Sunday morning my senior year of college that I woke up and drove across town to attend a church I’d never been to before. I can’t remember specifically what motivated me to attend the morning worship that day, but I know for sure the idea involved several nudges from God, that I acted on finally. It was one of those Heavenly days, when I felt the love of God welling up inside me, begging me to focus my attention back to Him. It was no accident that I randomly ran into a friend at that service and spent almost four hours that afternoon eating lunch and talking about life with her. That is probably one reason I felt so at home with the church I visited. Man, God sure knows what He’s doing when He fills our days with those small details!

I was dating someone at the time, but started praying that God would help heal my heart to love Him above all others. I returned to the same church on a following Sunday, and again felt moved by God. As I continued spending more time with God, my heart felt at ease. I was able to move on from a shallow relationship and started praying God would prepare my heart to find love in a Godly spouse. This was a prayer I had been praying since high school, but it wasn’t until the light bulb clicked at age 22 that I really prayed this prayer with the full faith and trust in what God can provide. I read something so very insightful, that really seemed to hit a home run for me. Maybe it will help you too.

Remember that a person cannot fill the void only God can fill. And God’s love never fails!

It was my reconnection with God that I felt whole and that’s what led me to where I am now. Sure, God planted Shane in my life a few years earlier and we became friends over time. However, just as God always does, He didn’t plant the idea of the two of us dating until the time was right. Making God our focus individually led us to a strong relationship as a couple, and it all came naturally under God’s plan. If you’re struggling with understanding God’s timing, you’re not alone! I face that challenge often, so you might enjoy reading my experiences with God’s perfect timing.

Let me ask you: Is your heart ready to fully love and attend to your future spouse? Are we spending enough time realigning with God, or do our words and actions conflict?

Just think about all that time we spend worrying about all the shallow details that make a person attractive on the outside. It’s the internal relationship with God that really prepares our hearts to fall in love, not the outward appearances. If you’re tired of the dating turmoil, are you at a place with God that you’ve let go of selfishness and asked Him to take control? No matter how far you are from God, He loves you and is waiting to sweep you off your feet. Oh and the bonus? Unlike someone you’re dating, God is never going to walk away.

I told you my February posts will focus on love. So why not kick off the month celebrating a unique kind of love: a love of farming and a love of food! Here’s a glimpse of a Missouri farm for you to see:

It’s a fitting topic as things kick off at the 2012 Cattle Industry Annual Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. I’m so thrilled to visit with old friends and meet new ones. I consider it a privilege to work for great farmers and ranchers who dedicate their lives to raise food for all of us to enjoy with our families.

We are all called to do God’s work daily, and for farmers and ranchers that calling is very important. God has called many of these farming and ranching families to do His work for multiple generations. God has called these farm & ranch families to do His work to feed the world.

I’m lucky enough to spend my time working for these farmers and ranchers, to make sure folks understand what it takes to produce wholesome food for our increasing population. Raising cattle, or any livestock in general, takes a kind of dedication and love that is very unique. It is certainly an honor to celebrate the love of the families I work with daily, by helping explain their stories.

Please take some time to watch this video. I think you’ll really enjoy hearing directly from some of these cattle folks. You’ll see for yourself how much love and faith these cattlemen have for their animals, and it sure is an inspiration!

Why do I love working for cattle families? My friend, and cattle rancher Jim McCann puts it so well in this video. He says:

The Lord let me do this because He knew I’d take care of the animals.

There’s an important book that says we have dominion over the creatures of this world, but we are also charged with taking care of them.

You know, I consider myself a lucky girl to be working with and for folks who have such hearts of gold. I really am living the dream, all thanks to God!

Love.

This four letter word holds so much emotion, inspires so many actions, and serves as a tie that binds. Today’s sermon at church was about love, and I found myself pondering the love that God has for my imperfect heart. I had walked into church this morning asking God for inspiration for the next blog post. As always, He delivered right on time. I realized love is a topic needing to be explored, and at what better time to dig deeper into God’s love for us than now, when we’re surrounded by the idea of Valentine’s Day. So for the next month, be looking forward to posts about love.

I didn’t truly understand love until I really felt God’s never failing love for me. It is the love above all others, and one that I can’t fully comprehend. It is His perfect love that gives us the chance to show love here on earth. His love is the best of all.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.–Romans 8:38-39

This scripture and the song below were both part of the service today, that God used to remind me of His love. We can never lose God’s love, and that’s something worth celebrating! What’s better is His love never fails, and this song is such a moving reminder of that unfailing love only our God can provide.

It’s the chorus that moves me to trust the love God has for me, in times of both joy and struggle:

You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning

And when the oceans rage
I don’t have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

I pray as we enter February that we focus on the love God has for us. I’d like to know: what about God’s love moves you? Do you have a favorite song or verse that reminds you of His love? How do you share God’s love with others?

I welcome your thoughts and comments, to better learn what God is doing in our lives to show us His love! Maybe God will use your words and feelings to help inspire the posts to come in the rest of the love series! Stay tuned.

Of course had I thought about that question, I would have realized the answer. But I was being human, and struggling to see the bigger picture. Ugh! Am I the only one who feels silly when I question God? I mean really, like I am smarter than Him? Those questions are so embarrassing when He finally puts it into perspective for me. It is so easy to question God’s will when it challenges me to bend beyond my normal comfort zone.

Almost immediately after asking that loaded question, I blurted out this line about my self-imposed deadline to maintain weekly blog posts. And there it was. Without even a moment of silence, Shane shared the exact message God was trying to get through to me. He said, “God doesn’t always give you His deadlines.”

It was like he had been practicing that sentence all day, because it just rolled off his tongue and hit me like a ton of bricks. We sat in silence for a few seconds until we kind of exchanged this “yep, that’s it” look, both knowing a blog about God and deadlines was about to be written.

For as much as we all wish we had God’s number so we could call Him up when we’re looking for the right things to say or the right things to do, I know God comes through with His perfect timing. Even though He doesn’t always share His deadlines with us upfront, He sure delivers when the time is right. It’s after searching for the answers that we actually have a deep appreciation for the ways God speaks to us.

I truly love those ah-ha moments when the light bulb goes off and I can see what God is trying to reveal in my life. I understand it’s hard to wait on God’s deadlines, believe me. I went through four years of journalism classes, so I’ve got some kind of unnatural respect and appreciation for deadlines. I am so deadline oriented, that I don’t go anywhere without my little notebook full of overly organized to-do lists to keep me on track and meeting those deadlines!

So how do I overcome the reality that life revolves around deadlines God doesn’t always reveal? I pray. I pray for patience, and remember that no notebook full of deadlines and completed task lists beats the awesome plan God has designed for our lives when we put our faith in Him. How do you wait for God to reveal His deadlines in your life?

By the way, have you ever noticed the cheerful moods and smiling faces that come out on days when the weather makes a significant shift for the better? I sure know I was a much more patient patron waiting 20 minutes at the car wash on this sunny day than I would be on a typical winter’s day.

These small blessings remind us God created the seasons of change. In fact, the weather changed drastically this evening. I started typing this post as the rain started to pour and the lightning started lighting up the sky. I happened to be pedaling away on an exercise bike at the gym contemplating what I’m supposed to write about for this post. Seeing the lightning made me think back to my first memories of stormy nights.

As most kids are, I was a little frightened by thunderstorms. I remember the adults in my life explaining lightning was just the flash going off when God took a picture. That always gave me a sense of comfort, knowing God was watching over me with care. Even now, that little saying reminds me that God is near during this storm, just like He was with us earlier today in the glorious sunshine.

What strikes me (pardon the lightning pun), is that rejoicing and praising God comes easier when we’re celebrating sunshine and good times. It seems those personal storms and struggles we experience leave us with a little less eager spirit to praise Him. The lesson I’m thinking about tonight is that regardless of our current surroundings, God is near. He is near us during the sunny days, and He is near us during the stormy nights. I hope that reminder can give you some hope this week, no matter what you’re going through or what your life’s forecast looks like at the moment. I invite you to join me in prayer, that our hearts and the hearts we touch will recognize the comforting presence God provides us daily. For sunny days and stormy nights, God wants to be the shelter we seek. God bless!

Be patient. This simple phrase takes a lot of work to achieve. I got to test my patience this morning, and thought it would be a great example to share. I was already running late for work when I walked out to my car to see lots of frost, so I was going to need to scrape the windows. With my fingers about halfway frozen, my windows were clean and I was on my way! About a mile from home, I felt for my cellphone through my coat pocket to make sure it was safely tucked away. Uh-oh. The phone hadn’t made it to the car, so it must have been left at home. As I turned around at the closest street and started my way back to the house, God reminded me of the patience I should be praying for daily. God is so very good at reminding me to slow down and ask for patience, especially during these times when it seems I would lose my head if it weren’t for my neck keeping it attached to my body.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

Our God loves to provide, but it is up to us to accept His gifts. He gave me the strength to start writing about my faith in Him, but I have to admit I’m actually kind of embarrassed it took me so long to accept His nudges to start this blog. Thankfully, God is patient with me, even in times when I take a little longer to accept His direction.

I was about to say it’s funny how God can plant a seed and spend days, weeks, months and even years watering that seed through nurturing mentors, encouraging friends, and many other encounters that we will either see or miss based on our level of readiness to listen and watch for God’s direction. The fact is: God’s plan isn’t some funny or ironic string of events that fall into place on accident. The plan He has designed is perfect, detailed, and meticulously mastered, all for a purpose. It’s amazing, and awe-inspiring to realize how God is completely in control at all times. That’s something to remember: God is in control.

While we are often losing our cellphones, keys, wallets or other belongings, God doesn’t misplace His belongings. He never takes His eyes off of us. He knows us by name, and He keeps watch over us. He’s always got His hands on the wheel ready to start our journey with Him. And the best part is He’s patient with us even when we are a little slow to get started. All of that said, God can’t take us anywhere unless we are willing to wait out the ride. Waiting takes patience. Prayer takes patience. And as I’ve learned, patience takes prayer.

I’ll be completely honest, I struggle with patience. It’s a battle I face in every area of my life, on a regular basis. I know I’m not alone with this struggle. And even if you are extremely patient, you probably have a weakness you would like to overcome. So what is the takeaway? As we struggle with weakness and imperfection, God is by our sides, waiting for us to ask for help to live in the image of Jesus Christ. Clearly God shared His patience with me as He waited many months for me to take action with this blog. He also shares His patience with me as I ask Him for patience during hectic or stressful situations, like a morning of running late and misplacing a cell phone.

If we are patient in prayer, God will hear our cries:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry. —Psalm 40:1

Sometimes patience in prayer is the hardest kind of patience to practice. Right now I’m reading a book called The Circle Maker, by Mark Batterson. It was a Christmas gift and I’d encourage anyone to check it out! I really enjoyed the advice Batterson gives about praying through and being patient with God in our prayers. He suggests we don’t pray ASAP (as long as it takes) prayers, but instead pray ALAT (as long as it takes) prayers. I know this is against our human nature, and certainly our society, as we’ve become trained to want immediate results. Let’s just remember we’re in the hands of an almighty Ruler who is overseeing a plan much larger than we can even imagine. I have no doubts He will bless us when it fits His timing, all according to that amazing and awe-inspiring Godly plan.

Listening is a very valuable skill. I am practicing my ability to listen. This is an ongoing process as I’m trying to improve my listening to family, friends, colleagues, strangers, and mostly with God. I know one thing, God has been telling, nudging, pushing and all but forcing me to listen to Him. All of this listening has led me to start writing this very moment.

I’ve always enjoyed writing, even when it involved research papers and newspaper articles. I mean, it would have been a miserable four years as an ag journalism student if I didn’t somewhat enjoy writing! Trouble is, as much as I’ve written professionally, I’ve simply not made writing a priority in my personal life. I’ve had a couple of blogging experiences, with internships, jobs, and classes. The sad thing is these haven’t been sustainable ventures and I’ve given up on their existence. Back in August, God laid an idea on my heart that I need to use my writing gift to share God’s love and mercy to encourage others. After spending the last six months talking to and questioning God, He has not once stopped nudging me to take my first step. Of course, just like running, the first step is always the hardest. So I’ve spent many hours, mostly behind a windshield, talking to God about getting this project up and going. One of the first questions I asked was to get help finding the right name for the blog, because if I’m going to keep up with it I want it to have a name with meaning! As hard as it seems to name blogs these days, I have to say the naming process was actually one of the most exciting feelings I’ve ever gotten in the presence of God. Let me explain:

About a month after God nudged me with the idea of writing a blog, I found myself traveling for work. That of course is nothing out of the norm for me. However, on this particular day I was supposed to have a passenger and at the very last minute I ended up flying solo, meaning I wasn’t going to have anyone to visit with for the two hour drive. So there I was, in the car for 120 miles with no one keeping me company but God and the radio. I spent a good chunk of that trip brainstorming names for this potential blog God was calling me to write. I knew the name had to honor God, since after all He is the one who deserves the credit for the blog in the first place since He just kept nudging. I didn’t know where to start, so I started running through the verses I know by heart for guidance. The first verse that popped into my head was Philippians 4:13, which says “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”

So for at least 10 minutes I tossed those words around, thinking out loud, figuring out how a blog name could come from that piece of scripture. I was thinking really hard, trying to give it my all. I was thinking so hard that I was oblivious to the sounds and noises around me. I hadn’t processed the sound of music in the background because my brain was so loud my ears couldn’t hear the noise from the radio. As I continued to question if this was the right verse to pull the name from, something changed. For a reason I can only explain as “God’s timing,” my ears perked up and alerted my brain of the song playing on the radio. That song confirmed my thoughts and erased all doubt from my mind. This line sang out to me from the car speakers and I just started to tremble:

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

I’ll never forget the goosebumps and even some tears that welled up when I heard this line from from Matthew West’s song, Strong Enough. It was God and I finally was learning to listen.

I know God plants ideas and dreams knowing they’re just a mere stepping stone for the bigger journey He has in store for us. I’ll be honest and admit that I’m quite nervous and a little jittery to be putting my feelings out there in such a public format. But just today I read these verses that are written on a wall hanging in my bathroom:

Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

This passage reminds me that God wants us to share His word with others, in our homes, along the road, and as far as our reach will go. It must have been a couple of months since I read this entire excerpt from Deuteronomy 6:5-9, and it’s hanging in my house where I see it multiple times daily! The fact that God nudged me and made me take time to read this today reaffirms that He delivers exactly what we need, when we need it and it sure calmed the nerves I felt about writing this post. Now those jitters feel more like a giddy joy. Just like that, God has calmed my nerves and strengthened me to make this first step, which after all is the hardest! I know from past experience just how much time it takes to keep a regular blog and I’m sure going to need some divine intervention to help me keep this one up. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, God doesn’t let us down!