The Captivating Woman

Designed with purpose.

Complacent

A couple weeks ago, I embarked on a backpacking adventure to Iceland. For four days, I hiked the Landmannalaugar trail. The scenery was breathtaking. The weather was perfect. “Not too cold, not too hot. All you need is a light jacket” (If you guess where this quote is from you win! I don’t know what you win, but I’ll find something…).

I felt so adventurous as I crossed and jumped over rivers (I now have a love/hate relationship with rivers due to this trip), quickly set up a tent in the rain and snow, ascended and descended high mountain tops, and rehydrated meals with a little fuel tank and some boiling water. I was unstoppable! I felt amazing! I felt like a new person.

Now see here; when you venture out into the Icelandic wilderness with 30 pounds on your back and hike between 7 and 10 miles a day, your mind starts to race.

My mind would not stop spinning especially about the glory of God and His will for my life.

As I stood on top of a hill and scanned the landscape, I could not help but praise God. The scenery was amazing and to know He created this was absolutely astounding! I could also not help but think about the lives of the people of Iceland and of those in other parts of the world. Do they know Christ? Have they heard of Him? Is there someone who can speak to them about the love and mercy of our Lord? Then my questions shifted…

“Can I be that person to speak to them about the love and mercy of our Lord?”

“Can I be the voice proclaiming the Gospel?”

“Can I go and be a witness and light to others?”

These questions soon became my prayer for the rest of the trip. I began to pray for clarity for the plans God has for my life. I began to pray on how I can witness to my community and to other countries.

I am now back at work and feel complacent. I feel annoyed. I feel bored. I am tired of feeling safe. I am tired of working at a job where I have to walk on eggshells because of how the employees and employers are connected. I want to go out and not be afraid to share my faith. I want to go out and be a light in the darkness.

I have been listening to different sermons from Francis Chan and the fire for preaching the Gospel is blazing. In one of Chan’s sermons, he talks about how American Christians get caught up in living a “safe” life. We only hang out with others who are Christians, we won’t go to certain events unless they are Christian-based, and so on and so on. We get caught up in what our church building looks like, how good the band is, if there is a cool light show, and how many people are in attendance. What Chan says next is the cherry on top. Now here you go. Are you ready?

God did not call us to live a SAFE life.

God did not call us to only stick with fellow believers. God did not call us to sit in a building with thousands of people as the lights are flashing with an awesome slideshow and the band singing Hillsong’s “Oceans”. God called us to go. Go. Go and make disciples. Go and spread the good news. Go into the world and proclaim His name.

Now I am not saying not to hang out with your Christian friends. I am not saying to not attend church and be fed. I am not saying that your church is bad if it has a light show and has a band that sings “Oceans”. I am not saying to be of the world. I am simply saying to go.

I know it is not easy to be a Christ-follower. Our lives have been radically changed forever. We want everyone to know about the love of God; yet, when we open our mouths, we get judged. People don’t want to listen to you. People start to look at you differently, especially in the Bay Area, which is the most un-churched area in the Nation.

In all of America, the Bay Area reigns supreme as the most anti-God community. The minute I mention that I am a believer, the look on people’s faces resemble the face of a baby that has tried a piece of a lemon for the first time. Mentioning my faith in God equals to an obscene comment or gesture in the Bay. Funny how an area that heavily promotes love, equality, and acceptance, doesn’t really show love or acceptance to all people. Yet, we can’t let that un-acceptance and the judgment stop us…

Being a Christian, a Christ-follower, means that your life is changed forever.

It’s changed in a glorious way. We have experienced how glorious Christ is and it is time to share that with others. Whether it is something simple or extravagant, local or global, the message of the Gospel must be told to our communities. We must go.

Promises

Promise is a beautiful word that holds huge expectations.

I often think that people do not understand the importance of saying the words “I promise”. How many of you have had someone say “I promise” to you in hopes that what they are promising will come true?

I know that this has happened to me on some occasions. The few major promises that were spoken to me did not quite come true. Whether it was my previous employer saying that they will “promise” to give me a raise, my dad saying that he will “promise” to remain in my life, or my friend who will “promise” to keep in touch and maintain some sort of a relationship with me. I cannot say that I ever saw these promises be fulfilled.

But then I have to take a step back and look at my life. Was there ever a time that I made a promise to someone that I could not keep? Of course. There was a time when I promised to meet and hang with my friends and instead I went to dinner with my ex-boyfriend and his friends. There have also been times when I promised my own family that I would do a particular thing, and I unfortunately did not follow through. We all get caught in the easy way of saying “I promise” without taking a step back and looking at the repercussions.   

This past week I have been thinking about a broken promise that was made to me a while back.  I played the words over and over in my head.  One way for me to cope with this broken promise was to do some research on this strong word.

The definition of the word promise is:

a declaration or assurance that one will do or will not do a particular thing.

A few synonyms I found are vow, pledge, and oath.  What a powerful definition for word that is so loosely used.   

It is easy to get caught up in reflecting on the empty promises in our lives. It is easy to become bitter and to sit and wallow about the things that did not come true.  However, sitting and thinking about all the hurt, will not bring us happiness.  A broken promise, whether it be small or large, will never be excusable.  It will of course cause heartache and pain.  So how do we move on from the brokenness in our lives?

Although we are constantly burdened and hurt by the broken promises people stowed upon us, there is one promise that will always remain.  The promise of God’s never ending love will never be broken. There have been times when I felt alone.  I felt angry and wondered why God didn’t show up in certain situations.  Why did this pain have to occur? Yet God showed love to me in different ways. God reminded me that His promise of never-ending love, and always being there for me will never go away. As Jesus was walking with His cross on the way to His own crucifixion, He easily could have dropped that cross, walked away, and went to Heaven to be with God. He could have avoided the pain and suffering…but He didn’t.  

He chose to die on the cross for us. To be beaten and afflicted for us. To be ridiculed and mocked for us. Just to show us how much He loves us. To show us, how much he cares for us. To show us that He will never leave us nor forsake us in our time of need.  To show us that He is the one true God. He knew what was going to happen. He knew the pain that He was going to experience. The ridicule He was going to face.  

Yet through it all, He kept His promise. His promise to be the ultimate sacrifice. To die for our sins just to show us how much He loves us.  

People and their actions can be a disappointment. We hate to admit it, but that’s the truth.  
The power and love of Jesus Christ, will never disappoint. It will never be broken. He is the promise that will never be broken.

The 5 Love Languages

“What is your love language?”  

When I was first asked that question, I had a look of utter confusion.  Before that moment, I have never heard of a “love language”. I didn’t know that love had it’s own language.

First off…

What is a love language?

How do I know what my love language is?

How can a love language help me in my life?

My friend let me borrow his copy of The 5 Love Languages so I can see what all the hype was really about. Gary Chapman shares that there are 5 love languages that people can express. These love languages are: gifts, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and physical touch. Your love language may be different in the way you receive or give love.

Now I am not a big reader, so when I decide to pick up a book it better grab my attention. I finished the book within 72 hours. It was so enlightening! I was so into this book and that I could not wait to take the quiz to see what love language reigns supreme in my life.  

Yet shortly after all the excitement of discovering my love language, I asked myself, “How can I apply this to my life?” At the time I was single and was nowhere close to even starting a romantic relationship. What was the point of reading this book?

I then began to evaluate my friends and paid close attention to their actions. My friends are unique in wonderful ways and each of them give and receive different love languages. I realized that this idea of a love language can be used to help build my friendships with those around me. It’s not just for romantic relationships; It’s also for maintaining and building the platonic relationships that currently surround me.  

Something I want to reiterate again is: your love language may be different in the way you receive or give love. You might feel loved more by receiving hugs over receiving gifts, but you may love giving gifts as an expression of love. Paying attention to this can help you understand your friends as well as yourself.

We have been fearfully and wonderfully made. God created us all in unique, remarkable ways, that make us the women we are today. I mean, how boring would it be if God gave us all the same love language? Life would be pretty bland. God is extremely creative, and He truly put time, effort, and love into each and every one of us.

My challenge to you this Valentine’s season, is to apply this idea of a love language to all the relationships in your life. See how your relationships with your family, friends, and loved ones grow by speaking their “language”. 

So what’s the first step? Grab a copy of The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Last. If you don’t want to read the book, take the quiz!

Advent – Day 18

The Christmas season seems to of started earlier again this year. Christmas ads were airing before Thanksgiving. Drugstores were selling decorations a week before Halloween. Candy was in full swing in the grocery stores.

The thrill of Christmas is exciting to many. Parties, mistletoe, and delicious treats fill the weeks. I continue to hear everyone talk about whether all their gifts were bought or what Christmas party they are going to attend.

I’ve realized that Christmas continues to become more commercialized. I am slowly noticing that Christ is not the main focus of this season. We have moved away from celebrating Jesus and why His Father sent Him.

There is a line in the hymn “Lift Up the Advent Strain”. It says:
“Jesus, all praise to Thee, our joy and endless rest: We pray Thee here our guide to be. Our crown amid the blest.”
What a beautiful line. “All praises to Thee, our joy and endless rest.”
Has Christ been your joy and endless rest? Maybe your deepest need are these two things during this season.
God sent his Son to this earth to live with us and to ultimately die on the cross. Jesus might of not been born in December, yet we use this time to give thanks to God and to celebrate the birth of Christ. By Christ coming to this earth and dying for us, He offers us an abundant life. Life with joy, rest, peace, love…
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” -John 10:10b.
I’m not saying to not get a tree or to not put up lights on the house. If your love language is giving gifts, please bless others! Spend time resonating in the truth of this holiday. The Son of God has come! It is because of Him that we are celebrating this Christmas holiday.
“Daughter of Sion, rise to meet thy lowly King.”

Lift Up The Advent Strain
Words by: Unknown

Lift up the Advent strain!
Behold the Lord is nigh!
Greet His approach, ye saints, again.
With hymns of holy joy.

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be;
Our God the form of slave puts on,
A race of slaves to free.

Daughter of Sion, rise
To meet thy lowly King !
Nor let the faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring.

As Judge, in clouds of light,
He shall come down again,
And all His scattered saints unite
With Him in heaven to reign.

Before that dreadful day
May all our sins be gone,
The old man all be put away,
The new man all put on.

Jesus, all praise to Thee,
Our joy and endless rest:
We pray Thee here our guide to be.
Our crown amid the blest. Amen.

Advent – Day 10

There is something mesmerizing about the dark starry sky. I can get lost gazing towards the sky as I watch the stars shine so radiantly. Being in the city makes it hard to see the elegance of the night sky. But going to a more desolate area makes it possible to see the beauty that occurs after sundown.

A couple weeks ago, my mom came running into the house exclaiming, “Hurry up! Come outside! There is a bright blue light in the sky!” As I stepped outside, I noticed a bright, yet fading light. “It’s gone. I’m sad you missed it” my mom stated.  She continued to say that there was a bright light traveling in the sky, as if it were trailing off of an airplane. “As I continued to watch, the light trail ended and it turned into a blue haze. It was so bright! I wonder what it could be?” 

That must have been the thought of the shepherds as they stared into the night sky on that cold, Christmas morning. “What is that bright light? That star is shining so radiantly!” A star of that magnitude must have brought many questions and mixed emotions, just as it did to my mom and the rest of San Jose.

The bright light in San Jose was also seen in Southern California and Arizona. It turns out that a military base in San Diego shot an unarmed missile into the sky that night. This occurrence was mentioned in the news for a good week and a half. I still hear people talking about the “bright blue light”.

That light brought questions. That light grabbed people’s attention. That light is still being discussed in the workplace and in the media. But what that light didn’t bring was hope. It didn’t cause an event that would dramatically change this world. That light will soon be forgotten.  

There is one light that will never be forgotten. There is a light that is still shining brightly. There is a light that will bring hope AND love AND joy to this world. There is a light that will never be taken away and no man, no creature…no thing can extinguish that light.

That light was the light the shepherds saw in Bethlehem many years ago. That light was the light that was visible to the Wise Men who lived miles and miles away – Wise Men who were drawn to its beauty and radiance.

I love the last lyric of the hymn “Watchman, Tell Us Of The Night”.  It reads:

“The Prince of Peace, Lo! The Son of God is come!”  

Friends, the Son of God has come! He is the gift that brings us light in our darkest times.  Jesus is the light that was sent to this earth to save us from this hopeless world.  Once we experience that light in our own lives, it is extremely difficult to let that light burn out.  

This Christmas I encourage you to be a light to the people around you.  Be a light that will make people say, “What makes her shine as bright as a diamond?”

Be a light that will gravitate others toward Christ.

Watchmen, Tell Us Of the Night
Words by: Sir John Bowring

Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveler, over yon mountain’s height,
See that glory beaming star.
Watchman, does its beauteous ray
Aught of joy or hope foretell?
Traveler, yes – it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.

Watchman, tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveler, blessedness and light,
Peace and truth its course portends.
Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveler, ages are its own;
See, it bursts over all the earth.

Watchman, tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveler, darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.
Watchman, let thy wanderings cease;
Hie thee to thy quiet home.
Traveler, lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!

Credit: Photo by Sarah Simon // Instagram: @themintgardener

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