Worry vs. Worship

I love how the Lord speaks to us. For me, a lot of times it's through music. Actually most of the time, it's through music. Except for today, I was reading a blog by Holly Furtick, that I typically read on a daily basis. Today, the blog was about Worry and Anxiety. 

There have been several things going on in my life that would cause me to worry and feel anxiety, which is why I've been thinking about this very subject even before I read the blog today. So I knew the Lord was trying to teach me something. 

In Matthew 6:25-34 (Message) It says: 

 ^25-26"If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

 ^27-29"Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

 ^30-33"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

 ³⁴"Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

I know that was long but it's so important to realize that He has everything taken care of. Why do we constantly worry about stuff? In the blog from today, it spoke of a direct correlation between our worship and worry. 

It said that worry and worship is like a see-saw. When our worry is up, our worship is down and when our worship is up, our worry is down. WHOA!!! I absolutely LOVE that! It's so true. 

Jesus didn't say that our problems weren't important but that we should cast our cares on Him and He'll take care of the rest. Why do we always second guess that? Hasn't He ALWAYS provided? The answer is YES!!

Meditate on this thought especially before you head into worship! Don't let the enemy steal your joy and replace it with worry. Worship through your tears, worries and fears. Give thanks for everything, serve each other with your whole heart and let's move past all of things that weigh us down and keep us from REACHing the next level. :)

Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  

A Different Perspective

I just returned from the Forward Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Jared and I have attended this conference for the past five years along with our youth group. Every year it is eye opening and a great refresher on why it's so important to be bold in your faith and REACH out to those in need. 

This year was no different, of course and I'm on a mission like I never have been before.One speaker that really made an impact on me was Carl Lentz. He is the Pastor of Hillsong New York .  One question he proposed to everyone was "Has the enemy poisoned your perspective?" 

He had two key points: 

1. Are you too comfortable? Falling in love with your position will drive the passion out of your purpose .

2. Don't get so cool that the fire of God has left your life. 


I've thought about this very thing before we left for the conference. So many people get so wrapped up in having a position at a church or organization that they have lost their passion for what they're doing. I never want to get to that point. I  encourage you to look over the things that you do. Are you doing things because you have a passion for it or are you doing it to gain some kind of position or stature? I think the Lord would appreciate you moving on because He has something for you somewhere else. The Lord wants you to have a Kingdom Impact on those who are around you.

There have been times in my life that I thought if I only get to that point, I'll be happy and actually convinced myself that it was my calling. But guess what, it totally wasn't. The Lord will let you know one way or another that things aren't working out because that's not what He has for you. BUT the only REAL way to know that it's the Lords voice and not you're own is if you are actively seeking Him and you can't be happy doing anything else. The Lord knows you so well, He knows how He created you. I'm always amazed how we constantly are trying to determine why we're here and what our purpose is, when all we have to do to seek Him and ask! 

Don't let the enemy steal your passions. Always seek the Lord in everything you do. You'll find your passion when you find Him. 

Peace, 

Natalie 

Carriers of His Presence

This will be a short blog entry.....

In everything that REACH does, our hope is that every volunteer would take seriously the role of being the hands and feet of JESUS. 

When you have Jesus, you have something inside that wants to help people in need because you can't keep Jesus to yourself. That in itself is not Jesus. 

What would happen if we were intentional about doing this? How would this change our daily lives? How many things do we do for ourselves on a daily basis? I'm not saying that we shouldn't do things for ourselves from time to time. But hopefully you understand what I'm saying. How many things are done selfishly?

Get a desperation for Jesus and you won't be thinking about yourself so much, trust me. The two don't go together. 

Let us be carriers of His presence, in everything we do, everything we say and in every action. 

What do we need to change about ourselves to fully be what God would have us be? Think about it today and make a change! :)  

In Awe of Him

Like I said before in the last blog, we are in awe of God and how things have been coming together so well in the past weeks. Let me tell you what has happened in the last two days!

As you know, Joplin, Missouri has suffered a devastating loss from the deadly tornado. Thinking about this, while sitting at my desk at the office, my mind kept going back to my experience during Hurricane Katrina. I remembered how every day, the postal service would bring bags of letters from Americans all over the country, who had taken the time to express their condolences and try to offer some encouragement to the survivors of Katrina. These letters meant the world to the residents of the shelter! They would re-read them all throughout the day. 

So, I thought, "why couldn't AHOPers do that for the people of Joplin?" So I started making phone calls. I probably made about 10 calls before I reached the State of Missouri. I spoke to their Emergency Management Authority and found out where the Joplin shelter was. 

So I put the information on facebook so AHOPers could get started on their letters and cards. 

WELL....today at staff I explained what I did the day before. During which Josh gets a phone call from Shoes 4 the Shoeless (S4TS). We had worked with Shoes 4 the Shoeless about a month and a half ago. Great organization by the way! 

Anyhow, Kris from S4TS calls and says she received a call from a Missouri State Senator. He says that he had heard of S4TS and wondered if they could send shoes for the survivors of the tornado. THEN, Kris thinks of Xenia and how it would be cool if we could send letters and cards, along with shoes and socks!!!??!??!!! 

Wait a sec.....did she read my facebook status from yesterday??!! Come to find out, NO SHE DIDN'T!! Josh says, "Well I think Natalie is already working on that!" That's GOD showing up again!!


Her thought process was that Xenia residents know what it's like to lose everything in a tornado and could offer some real encouragement to the residents of Joplin. 


ISN'T THAT CRAZY HOW THAT WORKED OUT?! Now, in addition to sending the letters and cards, we will be sending water, shoes, socks, tooth paste and tooth brushes to the people of Joplin! Everything will be delivered on TUESDAY of next week!


I'm so amazed how GOD orchestrates things! I'm IN AWE at His GREATNESS!

Keep on REACHin'! 

~Natalie 

REACH Week Testimony

Sitting here on Sunday night thinking about AHOP's first REACH Week. So many things have happened because of the heart of people who served this past week. Lives were touched and not just the people who were being served but the ones who were serving. It has been an amazing thing to see! 


Transformation right before your eyes. People who are steadfast in serving, people who aren't thinking about themselves, people who are dedicated! Just think about how much work was done because we all came together, were united and did what needed to be done. 

I can't even explain it! The ONLY way to even describe what happened this past week is that God did it! That's it! Plain and simple! I can't even begin to tell you how many situations, I found myself in, that while in the middle of it I kept thinking, "I can't believe this! How did I get here? God is orchestrating this right now and I get to watch it unfold." 


For example, the other day, I met a couple who are homeless. They had come by the church offices because they needed a place to stay for the night. This particular couple had visited the offices before and I had dealt with them then. Both times they had come, I was there and saw them right when they got there. 


On this most rainy day, the couple had stated that they were trying to bicycle their way to Chillicothe, OH because they had found work there. But because of the rain, they had to stop and turn around. They were LITERALLY dripping from head to toe. When they asked if I knew of a place to stay for the night, I immediately knew that this was going to be difficult as no organization will take a "couple." All of the homeless shelters in town take families and single moms and their kids. So I knew my work was cut out for me. 


I told them "Let me see what we can do" without knowing my plan of attack. I kept the couple out in the lobby area of our offices and walked down the hallway, praying that God would give me an idea of where they could go. And of course he did. We set them up at a local motel and I knew they would have a roof over their heads at least for one night. 


Here's where it gets good.....about an hour after setting them up at the motel, I was hungry and decided to go to a local restaurant that I had never been to but had always wanted to. This restaurant has been open for about 5 years. I know that because I sold them their food license when I worked at the health department. 


Anyhow, while sitting in this restaurant, I got an idea! I was thinking about the LARGE amount of homeless individuals in Xenia and how great the need is for them to be taken care of food wise. So there goes the LIGHT BULB in my brain! SO, I started to talk to the management about REACH and the homelessness problems that we have been running into. I spoke to them about possibly being a partner for people who need food.


Right then the restaurants phone rings. The manager looks at me with an eyebrow raised and I'm looking back at her like, "why is she looking at me like that." She hangs up the phone and says, "You're not going to believe this. That phone call was about a man and woman who were biking their way to CHILLICOTHE in the RAIN and they need food!!"


I stood there dumbfounded! How in the world could that have happened?? I tell you how....GOD! 


If you are having a hard time understanding how AWESOME this is...allow me to explain! 


- That phone call was about the same couple I had just dealt with an hour before. 
- I had never been to this restaurant since it's been open and I decide to go there that particular day at that particular time. 
- I got the idea to partner with restaurants to be providers for people in need of food, while I was  there in the restaurant! 
- The phone rings and the subject matter is EXACTLY what I was trying to talk to the lady about!!? 


THAT'S GOD! I couldn't have planned that if I tried!! Needless to say the woman at the restaurant was in AWE and very much wanted to participate in what I was asking of her.


That's just one story from this past week! What an amazing GOD we serve!! When you have willing hearts, doing what we're ALL called to do, GOD WILL MAKE A WAY FOR SURE! 

So keep on REACHin'!


~Natalie