For the Birds When I think of birds, probably the last thing I think about is them being rich. Seriously, who would ever associate monetary well-being with these winged creatures. Do they have a socio-economic hierarchy that escapes us? And if they did, what would they rank themselves on, the size of their nest? Perhaps there is a delicacy of worms that humans are unfamiliar with. Could you imagine a television show dedicated to the finer feathered families, “Flights of the Rich and Famous.” I digress. My attempt to make this preposterous illustration is a segue for a Biblical truth that has never been more important than it is today. Our culture, our world seems to revolve around money. More importantly, in an attempt to satisfy our desires, we seek financial well-being as the vehicle. We long to be rich. For some, our longing for richness is loud and boisterous, for others, it is secretive and unspoken. Either way, Jesus knew this to be true, but here’s the curious part. Why did Jesus use birds as an example when teaching us about money? “Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the …Read more
“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.” When you look at a bird, what do you see? Most people see freedom. When a bird isn’t taking care of the basic necessities of life – food, shelter (a nest), and it’s mate and/or offspring, it’s freely soaring through the air. Birds don’t know worry and anxiety. And that’s exactly what God wants for all of His people. It’s why Jesus came – to set the captives free. Not just freedom from sin, but freedom from worry and anxiety. Freedom to live a full and abundant life. Worry goes against faith. Worry says, “I have to be in control.” Faith says, “God is in control.” Worry says, “If I don’t do X, Y, and Z, then my world will fall apart.” Faith says, “God is doing X, Y, Z, and everything else I can’t even see. He’s holding my world together.” Worry will make you sick. Faith will make you well. A bird, which acts only on instinct and not logical thought or emotion, can go about its business freely …Read more
A few years ago, while on a work trip to New York City, a colleague mentioned crossing something off his bucket list the evening before. While I understood the concept, it had never been more than a fleeting thought or a flippant comment for me: “Oh, I can cross [whatever] off the bucket list now!” Yet I was intrigued. This was a person I greatly respected, and that gave the idea more credence and weight. I began to tailor my own list. Around the same time, I was starting to feel rather discontent with a lot of things in my life and, frankly, somewhat stuck. I brought my feelings to God time and time again but was frustrated that I wasn’t able to see any movement or change on the horizon. I decided to take a day off from work on Good Friday and travel from my home in Philadelphia to Washington, DC to see the cherry blossoms in bloom – one of the items on my new bucket list. I drove to the closest Metro stop but after parking, I got slightly turned around and ended up outside the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) building. It was there …Read more
10 years… I have known for 10 years…that the thing with which I will change someone’s world…change THE world…is my voice… What if I am successful? This thought has almost paralyzed me in moving forward… There is no way my introvert self couldn’t handle being a SPEAKER…like a Women of Faith level speaker (because guys that is what is in my heart, it is so nuts) I am not good enough, pretty enough, thin enough, I don’t dress well enough, wouldn’t even been looked at to be be taken seriously… These are the thoughts I allowed (I ALLOWED, gave permission) to run through my head as I regularly dismissed the idea that I, could be she that God has called me to become… So, a few weeks ago I took a road trip with some amazing people to Tulsa Oklahoma and I stood on stage at the Launch Out Conference and I owned the calling on my life… Ya’ll I wasn’t even nervous…at least until I actually got on stage and all the saliva was sucked from my mouth…but… I knew this was the first step… The first step of many that will allow me to hone this craft called speaking…cause it …Read more
