Tag: god

Colorful letters spelling Happy Birthday on a wall
Christian living, Family, prophecy

A Birthday Reflection Redo – Some things I’ve Learned in 55 years

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For those who read my original birthday reflection, I jumped into the subject of prophetic words. It felt like that would be a better blog onto itself. So, I’m doing a little rewriting here, and I’ll give more attention to the prophetic word subject later, when we can dive deeper. So, here you go.

You know you are getting a bit older, when you start referring to things happening in “decades”. It happened this morning. I mused about how long it has been since we have gotten an accumulation of snow in the south like we have right now. Five to six inches is quite a lot for us, “southerners”. Yet, as I thought about the last time this had happened, I thought, “Well, that must have been at least a decade ago.”

“A decade ago.” “Two decades ago.” “Three decades ago.” Yikes.

And so, here I am a little over five and a half decades of life lived, thinking a lot about what I want the rest of the decades of my life to be like, realizing that “the longer I live, the less I seem to know”. That famous quote is true, because the longer I live, the more perspective I gain, which shows me the more room I need for growth. The more understanding I have leads to perceiving how I really don’t know as much as I thought I once did.

I am going to bullet point some things I have been learning about in the past 55 years of living. I say been learning because again the more I think I got it, the more I seem I have to learn. A new curve ball gets thrown that makes me refine my perspective. I will flesh out some of these statements over the next few months, as the Spirit leads me to do.

Words and their meanings really matter. Over the course of the this past decade, (Remember, I’m older now and can refer to life through that lens, ha!) the meaning of words have been morphing and changing. I’ve been informed of this phenomenon many times by my younger generation friends. One thing I’ve really noticed in our culture is that there is a tendency to group several meanings of words under one word, which blurs the meaning. This causes confusion and opens the door to misunderstanding and even abuse. Take the word “autism”, which I’ve had a crash course in recently due to a friend who has it. The meaning and application of that one word is extremely broad, so much so they had to call it an “autistic spectrum”. Other religious examples that come to mind are “prophetic” and “forgive”. There is also a ton of abuse that has gone on using scriptures or Biblical principles, as they are weaponized against people to control or manipulate them. If you want help with that, take a look at Rebecca Davis’s Untwisting Scripture book series. In all this, the importance of understanding the meaning of words and how they are used is paramount. This requires us to stop and ask good questions, and not just assume the meaning of things.

God doesn’t command us to forgive, unless a person is repentant. He does command us to love and to pray for people. I’ll dive into this one more in the future, as I am unlearning and relearning some things about this.

Creativity is a huge component in healing our brain, our body, our emotions, and even our Spirit. It causes our brain to shift to a positive place, where connections can be made to help us process out trauma and pain. You can refer to come of my previous blogs on this. Start with “Exploring Our God Given Imagination: Part One”.

Love. Joy. Peace. Faith. Even things like Unity. These are actually forces that move and change things. Everything else will fail, except for love. Think about that. When we get caught up in attacking one another, cursing each other, placing one other in “camps”, we are giving into the work of the enemy. Yet, when we turn away from that, and truly love people, which is an action that begins with patience, we can literally change atmospheres. One act of patience, kindness, gentleness can defuse explosive situations, and restore unity. We don’t really understand the power of it. Love is patient, kind, gentle. See 1 Cor. 13 for the definition of what love really is.

Unhealed pain that we refuse to allow into the Light of God, that we nature and hold onto, leaves the doors wide open to the enemy to come in and harm us. One of the main temptations that get thrown our way, and seems so right is to take false responsibility over things that aren’t ours to do. As soon as we put our hands on what is meant for the Holy Spirit to do, we become our own mini-gods, and control and elitism are right on the heels. According to Kathie Walters, every move of God has been stopped by someone taking false responsibility. That’s huge.

Seek justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God. If we follow this recipe, then we will stay balanced in the tossing waves of the storms we are in as a society. Justice is the foundation of God’s throne. Last year, particularly, God consistent spoke to me that justice is coming and being done. Personally, I went on a journey of reporting some crimes that I had experienced as a child, at the beginning of last year. Again, this is one I’ll dive into later, but there were some important lessons learned in that whole process. Our legal systems may not bring justice as it should, but God will in His time.

Sitting in the mercy seat is essential for dispensing justice and judgments. See the blog I wrote entitled “The Two Thrones” for more of this.

Sometimes, you just have to let go. Freewill is REALLY important to God. As much as you want to help someone, and you want to love someone, you can’t force anyone to do anything. In fact, you truly can’t have LOVE, if you don’t have freewill. When someone chooses to leave, you have to let go. Letting go is also an act of TRUSTING GOD.

“BE like the CENTURION,” rang in my Spirit on New Year’s Day this year. That meant to me that it’s not up to me to fix things, or fix people. I don’t even have to be present. All I have to do is believe that Jesus knows what HE’s doing and has the authority to do it. All I have to do is ask Him, and BELIVE Him. Our FAITH in Jesus is what moves the mountains, and we all have a measure of it.

Sometimes, I just need to listen. What people need more than our instruction and “great wisdom” (a little sarcasm here) is to be heard and seen first. Then, that may open the door for us to share our hearts too. I’m too fast to jump in with advice, because of wanting to help. It’s so easy for me to get into fix it, momma-mode. And almost every time, it’s not received and causes relational stress. Most of the time, people know what they need to do. They just need a safe person to share with.

We have to have a true north – a compass in life or we will wander off and get lost. There is truth that is unchanging and is stable to stand on. As a believer in Jesus, that for me is found in my relationship with Him and in the scriptures. If I veer from that relationship and/or His word, I become like that ship tossed about on a ship in a storm.

Sometimes, we just need to REST. This is a constant battle in me. I want to do. I want to fix. I want to take action. Finish a project. I hate it when people I love are hurting, and I can’t do something about it. Yet, Jesus consistently had to pull away from people Himself when He was on earth and rest. He had to go rest in His Father’s Love and know His Father’s heart. That’s how He knew what the Father’s will was at every turn, because He was in constant fellowship with Him. If we try to do life, without staying in the Ps. 91 place, abiding under the shadow of His wings, we will quickly burn out. Jesus didn’t respond to the needs of people. He did whatever His Father did. He pulled away. And He responded to faith.

Identity. Identity. Identity. It’s in those times of RESTING in the heart of God and meditating on His word, that I find out who He has created me to be. He already knows the future; therefore, He already knows who I’ve become in Him. These times of experiencing God define me. He reveals to me my identity in Him, which is uniquely mine, because He has created each of us with a divine blueprint of who we are in Him, and what HE has called us to do and be. Knowing this and remembering this, keep me on the right path towards life in Him. And in turn, I learn more of who He is. And how much He truly love us, which changes me more to be like Him.

Well, I think that’s enough to chew on for a few months at least. Thank you for reading and allowing me to share a few things I’m learning on the way. I pray it helped you.

Hopefully, I have a few decades left to live on this earth, and I hope I can live them well, in timing and relationship with my Lord and Savior, obeying His will. I pray I can do that with a little more perspective than before – with a bit more understanding, that only walking with Him through time can give. And if I have gained any wisdom, that I can share that in the right way, at the right time, so that it can help someone else on their journey with Jesus.

That’s my simple birthday wish.

Grateful for each of you. Love to you all.

A family gathered around a lit Christmas tree in a cozy room
Christian living, Family, Seasonal

A Christmas Story – The Gift

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This post gently touches on themes of abuse. Take your time, and be kind to yourself as you read.

It was Christmas Eve in 1983. My father had left suddenly the summer before. My destitute mother molded biscuits at Hardees each morning to make enough money to pay rent and buy food to feed four, hungry children. Our run-down, shotgun house in Southern Indiana was the only housing she could afford.

Winter winds threatened to rip through the heavy plastic my mother had duck-taped over the drafty, cracked windows, but my mother’s determination had thwarted the cold, at least partly. We had no money for heat. A simple gas stove would be lit throughout the day, in intervals, so as to warm the downtown stairs to a bearable temperature, but not too much as to run up the gas bill.

My mother had written to her relatives for a place to go or for some money to help. The reply had been a scathing rebuke from one of them. “How could a pastor’s wife get a divorce. So, no, you aren’t welcome here.” My father’s child support checks never showed either. No money. No support.

We were alone.

I had become an emotional wreck, unable to go to high school, because of undiagnosed illness. Sadly, I knew Christmas would come and go with no gifts, though I held in my heart a secret hope of one gift – a boom box. I told no one. I knew my mother would not be able to afford anything, even though she tried to force smiles and decorated a tree as she had always done.

Christmas Eve had come – along with hard, cold darkness which filled the night. My mom gathered my siblings and wrapped them in the warmest clothing we had. She looked back to offer me one last chance to join them, but I waved them on, as they hurried out the door. The firemen in the neighborhood were throwing a Christmas party for all the children on the block, and so my mother had taken my siblings to celebrate.

A little while later, my family hustled back in the house, with unwrapped gifts shoved under their arms and grins from ear to ear. “For you,” my mother said, as she handed me a rectangular, wrapped box. As I took it, the weight caught me off guard. Hurriedly, I unwrapped it, to uncover just what I had wished for – a new, shining (at least that’s how I remember it) boom box!

How did anyone know?

Tears welled in my eyes, as the realization hit me. In the middle of our dire circumstances, God loved me and cared for that simple heart’s desire.

For years, I’ve held that memory close to my heart, as I’ve seen God’s loving faithfulness again and again and again throughout my life.

As you face this Christmas, maybe you are facing loses of family or friendships. We are. May you are processing through unmet expectations or strained relationships. We are too. Maybe you have survived horrific abuse at this time of the year. Me too. I’m a childhood survivor of just about every abuse imaginable. I get the depression and trauma holidays can bring. Maybe there is sickness or disease or even death that has afflicted you or your loved ones this year. We have walked that road as well, especially in recent years.

Christ didn’t come as a King to fix the world. He didn’t come to make our worlds tidy and clean and neat. He didn’t come to fill our trees with presents, though sometimes He chooses to give us that special present to show us how much He cares.

He came to give.

To give Himself.

Lowly. Humbly. Freely.

And He gave us all He had – everything. Vulnerably. Tenderly. Knowing that He would lay down His very life for the sake of love, so that we can live in and through Him forever.

He came to comfort those who are mourning – to give beauty for ashes, a crown of glory, instead of Spirit of despair. He came to deliver us from darkness and bring us into His glorious LIGHT.

Wherever you are this Christmas, whatever you are going through, I want you to know that God sees you. He loves you. He came for YOU. And there is HOPE. For He is our HOPE. And maybe I needed to hear that too.

Much Love. And Merry Christmas.

Silhouette of a person standing in front of a glowing sunrise
Christian living, Family, God encounters, healing, teaching, Uncategorized

The Heat is On

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When the Heat is On, How Do We Beat the Heat
A cat lying in front of a fan, with the caption “It’s sooo hot!”
Literally, we have been running close to 100 degree days here in the south, and there doesn’t seem much end in sight, until those cool breezes begin to blow in fall.  And of course, everyone has been complaining about melting…  Which of course, we really aren’t, but it can feel like that sometimes.

In the spiritual realm, there has always been a battle raging, but in recent months, it has felt like the heat has again risen, and the enemy has been throwing some heavier artillery our way.  The heat of battle has been turned up.  It happens like that, in seasons, in shifts, and changes – particularly when the Lord is giving you new territory – like the Israelites facing off with giants in a new land they have been given.  

There has always been giants standing at the new door ways to our destinies.In the past few posts, I’ve been talking about who were are created to be, and how to find out that God-given design.  The purpose for our design is to fulfill our destinies, which in a nutshell is to release God’s kingdom on earth in the unique way that God has design for you to do.  

“Your kingdom come.  Your will be done.  On Earth as it is in HEAVEN!”

Yet, as you step in to that, it is natural for us to be met with opposition – spiritual opposition, and sometimes, physical and mental opposition.  For several years of my life, the Holy Spirit trained me and utilized that training that God took me and others through to pray over the healing of our land.   I wrote about that in my newest book, “An Intercessor’s Journey: Preparing Our Land for a New ERA”, which you can find here on Amazon.  

Directly, following that period, the Spirit shifted me into a season of deep-diving into other survivors’s lives, as He intentionally brought them across my path.  It is a honor to work with the Spirit to help heal a soul, but man, oh man, has it turned up the heat at times.  

Greater love has no man than this, that He would lay His life down for a friend.   And so, in this season, learning to do that, learning to love others coming out the worst possible situations, has been met with a lot of spiritual warfare.  

Many times, well-meaning people have said, “Oh, you can do that, but I can’t.”  That’s another discussion for another time, but I can honestly say, that I’ve fallen and skinned up my knees so many times during these past three years, that I’ve gotten some pretty, big scars.  The process of helping others has made me face some of my greatest fears.  It has forced me to lay my soul bare many times with my own counselor.  And often, I’ve desperately cried, “Lord, you asked me to this.  But I have no idea what to do, what to say, or how to help.  In fact, everything I do seems to make things worse.”  Have you ever been there?  Have you ever had to face these imperfections in yourself where you have to come to terms with you?

Heat will do that.  Fiery heat will reveal what’s really going inside.  Many won’t allow that.  They run back to their comfortable boxes.  And that’s not a judgment.  Shoot, I love my comfort too, and would stay there if I could, but then I hear the voice of Jesus, my best friend, saying things like “I’ll be your strength.  Look to me.  I’ll help you.  I’m using you to help save another life.”  

And I stand.  Or fall forward.  But I try not to retreat, though I want to sometimes.   Isn’t that what the scripture teaches, “Submit to God.  Resist the devil, by standing, and He will flee.”  James.4:7 and “Therefore put on God’s armor, so that you will be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day, and having done all the crisis demands, to stand firmly in your place.”  Eph. 6:13

The truth sets us free.   In this time of intense heat, I’ve had to dig into what is the truth about what I really believe, because when you are in the heat, you will be challenged on that.  Mind you, this goes way beyond what I’ve been taught in church, because a lot of what I’ve heard from a preacher’s mouth has had a man’s own agenda spun into it.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  – that He came to testify to the truth – and He had left us with a Spirit of truth.  And our sword, the only offensive weapon we have – it is the sword of truth!  

The truth is Jesus.  So, when the heat is turned up, and I feel any sand I may have been standing on slipping away, my feet had better find a solid rock to land on, or I’m going to tossed all over the place.  When the heat is on, when the flood waters rise, my first strategy is to run and hide in Jesus.  Ask Him, “True Lord Jesus, what’s the truth about …”  and listen to His voice.  Ask Him, “Lord Jesus, what scripture verse would you please show me that has the truth about this situation I am facing?”  And listen.  Let Him guide you like that.  He wants way more to help you find the Him, the truth, than you even want to.

If there are things that block the way, then be patient, ask others to pray with you – don’t be a Lone Ranger.  If you ask, and you don’t get an answer, or if the answer doesn’t sound like true love, (That would be the 1 Cor. 13 kind of love), then keep asking.  Keep seeking.  God will meet you, and He will show you Himself.  He is the source of all truth.  And truth will always be embodied in His unconditional love.  

If you don’t believe in God, then I would ask you to do some honest study and searching, because He will make Himself known in unlikely places, if your heart is open to it.  I believe that because I’ve seen that time and time again.  A friend who was once a witch was seeking out truth, and found Jesus, (truth embodied in love) through a guru, who pointed her to Jesus.  Crazy stuff.  The point is God wants us to know Him.  And if we are open to Him, He will find you.  

You can close your eyes and pretend that there’s not a battle, that there’s not a giant standing at the door of your destiny, but that just means the giants win.  

The wiser thing to do, in my opinion, is to seek Jesus, and talk with Him about how He wants to deal with those giants.  Maybe there are lies that you have believed that need to go, and truth that needs to take root in your heart.  Maybe He wants to fight for you, and have you hide inside His love.  Maybe He want you to take your sword and wield it by speaking His word out loud.  Maybe He wants you to play and have fun and eat some cake in front of your enemy.  Maybe He wants you to just rest in His loving arms, while He wars in your behalf.  Maybe He wants you to praise and worship Him  and then have you watch as those giants fall.  He’s creative, and He almost never does the same thing twice.  

We can’t stop the heat from coming.  It will get turned up at different seasons, and the Lord will use it to refine us and to make us more in His image if we will let Him.  He promises that when the heat is turned up, that He will give us a pavilion for shade from the heat, and a place of shelter and refuge for the storms and from the rain.  Is. 4:6

He will deliver us from the giants that stand in the way of our destiny, at the transitions of life, if we will run to Him and trust in Him.  He will wage that war, and help us to walk in freedom with Him.  It won’t be easy, but it will be good.  It won’t always be safe.  He didn’t call us to be safe.  He called us to be His children, and to bring His kingdom here.  Sometimes, that means within our own homes, sometimes within the land we live on, and sometimes in the people He brings across our path.  We can beat the heat, when we look to get up under His shade. 

If you’d like to join in more discussion on this and other topics, as we experience Jesus together, while utilizing the artistic process, come join the Encounter Tribe.  We meet once a month on zoom.  And it’s FREE.  For more info, click here.  

Love to you all.
Sunlight breaking through bright clouds
Christian living, God encounters, healing, Imagination, teaching, Uncategorized, Visions

Resetting Our Imagination

blossomingheartsstudio

In the past few months, I’ve been exploring with you the topic of the power of our imagination and our God-given purpose, which is an essential part of our design.

If you haven’t read those, I would encourage you to go back and catch up.

As with any time in my life that I’ve taught about something, I always get tested in it. I realized this morning, as my brain woke up, that the first thing rushing across my imagination screen was what I call sudden disaster scenarios. And then, I remembered what I’ve been teaching about in my classes and on my blogs about the power of what is playing out on our mind’s eye.

When I was younger and far more in the throws of trying to recover from all the trauma I had endured growing up, my imagination felt more like a freight train, constantly throwing up images of disaster scenarios. So much so, that I planned my days to be within a close range to a hospital. Now, I didn’t frequent hospitals, and if I would have had to go to one, I would actually have been far more triggered with a panic attack of actually being there. Yet back then, that was the state of my mind.

As I have processed through so many traumatic memories and those places inside have come to peace, my mind has settled down most of the time. Commonly, my inner world is mostly quiet, with the occasional alarm going off, to indicate I have something further to process or that there may be legit danger ahead.

In the past several months though, the alarm system inside has been activated much more. Sometimes, with just normal life changes, but also with some large raging fires. Most of the time, the blaring sound inside has been more like a smoke alarm that often goes off in my house, because I’ve been cooking and the kitchen has gotten smoky. Yet, some of the alarms have been based on situations that have been truly precarious and heart-breaking.

And I’ve found myself slipping back into a state of sudden disaster images playing across my imagination screen creating a negative space in my head. I know the purpose of this to keep me from future danger, but it still can be difficult to navigate as it triggers off the fight or flight response inside. Last night was movie night in our house, and I choose to watch Inside Out 2. As I pondered the scene where anxiety took over the control board and everything began to spin out of control, I realized that it is my responsibility to kindly take over the board, and practice what I preach. 🙂

My method of doing so is inviting the true, Lord Jesus into my imagination space with me. I ask Him questions like “What do you want me to know about this, Lord?”, and I wait for His answer. So, this morning, I wrote a list in my journal that went something like this.

“I’m scared of …., Lord Jesus. What do you want me to know about this?” And I went through that list with Him, and allowed Him to speak truth to the lies that were persistently trying to come in and influence my imagination screen.

I also asked Him, meaning Jesus, to wash my imagination screen. That may sound pretty weird, but He has a way of doing this. Not swiping it clean, where I can’t think or see things on it. It kind of gives me a fresh start, as I submit my thoughts to Him.

I also asked Him, “Where do you want me to read in the Bible?” And normally, He gives me a scripture to focus on. Today, though, I didn’t hear anything, yet in my journal are scriptures at the bottom of each page, and no lie, every time I wrote something that I was struggling with the scripture at the bottom was the direct answer to that particular struggle. It was so on point, I finally just stopped in amazement, and pondered, “How do you even do this, Lord?” It’s like He knew the exact moment that I would be writing each thing in my journal, and had someone place each scripture on the very page I would need it.”

And people wonder why I believe in my God like I do?!

At any rate, we all struggle with the thoughts and images that flash across our mind’s eye. It’s where most of our battle is. The enemy seeks to implant lies there, that form our beliefs. Also, our brain is trying to protect us from future danger, which is a great thing, but can result in further driving those negative scenarios into our brain, ending in fight or flight responses.

Yet, God is very present to help us, and to speak truth in place of the lies, which is why believing the truth is so vital. God responds to our faith (our trust in Him), which is founded upon our beliefs, the things we believe to be true. The Lord Jesus desires to engage with us in our imagination to help us to “see” His perspective. Those moments with Him can change everything, because they help us to reset our minds to His truth.

Once such time, I was anxious over BIG things going on in our world that were troubling me. Utilizing my mind’s eye, I checked into ask Jesus what His perspective was. I perceived that we were walking in a garden, and He was untroubled and at perfect peace. I asked Him about the BIG thing I was so worried about, and He showed me the globe, the earth. He was holding it carefully in His hands. He just looked over at me, and said, “I’ve got it.” When He said this, peace enveloped me like a blanket and all my anxiety melted away.

It’s not always that easy. At times, I wrestle with things for months, even years. In the end though, the faster I can come to peace with whatever it is, and entrust it into God’s hands, I can then move forward into my purpose. It doesn’t mean I wait for complete peace every time. Many times, I’ve just obeyed and walked into my purpose with a level of anxiety inside.

There are times in life that we all will struggle to keep our imagination screen on track with positive experiences and receiving and contemplating truth, love, etc..

When that happens, I encourage you to reset your mind on the perspective that Jesus gives, resetting your imagination.

A person resting beside a mountain lake with snow-capped peaks
Christian living, dreams, Family, God encounters, healing, Imagination, teaching, Uncategorized

Understanding Our Design

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Have you ever gazed in wonder at the intricacies of a snow flake or a spider’s web? Stood on the cliff of mountain top peering into the vastness of a valley below?

Felt the icy water of a waterfall stream through your fingers as you noticed how the green moss growing on the rocks squished under the tips of your fingers?

Held a sleeping baby at your breast?

Looked through a high powered microscope at mind-boggling functions of the universe within our cells?

All of creation sings the story of a grand and divine design.

We, also, are designed with an intrinsic, foundation blue prints of our purpose on earth. Many never tap into, nor understand that blue print, but it is there all the same.

That God-given design is expressed through out our personality, learned behavior patterns, talents, and gifts. Yet, like a blue print, it is the plan, the foundation upon which we build our lives on.

I believe our personality can change, and our talents and gifts grow or diminish based on the seasons of our life, experiences, and whether we nurture them or not.

Yet, what we are design for, our purpose for being here is a steady force in our lives, shaping our choices and our future. If cultivated through our creative imagination, (see my last blog on the Exploring Our God-Given Imagination Part 2), it can blossom and grow into something amazing! It’s more than just career choices and ministry opportunities, but a sense of fulfillment for that which you were placed here for – the fulfillment of your destiny.

Several years ago, we took our daughter on a family birthday camping trip to a pristine lake in our area. My practice when in beautiful places is to roll out of bed at the crack of dawn to see the sunrise. This location was not disappointing, as our tent opening faced the direction of the rising sun as it peeked over the mountain tops sparkling on the tips of the waves like millions of diamonds. As I sat on a cold, mossy rock, with my feet dangling, as my toes skimmed the calm surface, the quiet voice of the Spirit whispered in my ear. “Do you know that you are adventurer?”

I laughed to myself, as I thought the Lord was joking with me. “What I countered? I’m the furthest thing from that.”

But, He continued, “I made you to love adventure. I made you to be pioneer. To go places others have not gone before.”

I stopped and pondered.

He continued, “No matter what the location I bring you too, whether a lake, a beach, or mountain top in the rain, you leave the comfort of your warm bed, and you come to be with me at sunrise. Not everyone does that. Look back over all those rocks you just climbed over to sit here on the water’s edge.”

I glanced back over my shoulder. “See, you are an adventurer.”

This new information was tucked into the back of my mind, as I went about my day, but the Lord continued to show me, from then on, that truly a pioneer is a paramount aspect of who He has created me to be, and I need this sense of adventure to be everything He has designed for me to be. I also experienced, through my creative imagination, that this love for adventure was nurtured by the Spirit through the images I would see as I engaged creatively with Him.

Years later, I’ve seen that pioneering spirit in me play out in some very key ways as I fulfill the things God has called me to do and be. It has become apart of my God-given design that I’ve embraced.

I’ve also known others who by design are pioneers. A pioneering spirit or design by default is one who goes before others to make a way. They can be easily labeled as rebellious, non-submissive, and even a having a Jezebel spirit. Often, they are kicked out of churches for not going along with the church leadership on things they clearly have felt the call of the Lord to do differently. In reality, they were designed to pioneer new territory. They often are entrepreneurs, business owners, inventors, creators, etc… They are designed to follow the beat of a different drum, and we need them.

Another thing I’ve realized personally about my design is that I’m a bridge builder. Not literally building bridges, but bridges between people groups. I first realized this when I was in college, though I didn’t really understand anything about how I was wired back then. I always have flowed seamlessly between different friend groups, who were completely interested in opposite things and had opposing personality traits. Once I tried to invite one friend from each group to an event to spend the evening together, and it ended in awkwardness at best. Another time, I went to see the same Christmas lights display three times in one evening, because three different friend groups wanted me to go. I literally would arrive back on campus with one group, and grabbing my hand to pull me towards their car. Comical.

Later, in life, I came to understand that this is apart of my design, to be a bridge builder between diverse groups of people groups, some being culturally diverse people groups. This part of my blue print has enabled me to cross cultural lines for friendship, prayer assignments, and given me a voice to aid in creating unity. I’ve had best friends in the Appalachian community, the African American community, including the Gulla/Gechee of South Carolina, and the Native American community. As of late, it has been building bridges with people in the survivor communities and LGBTQ communities, especially with those hurt through the church. The ability to naturally bridge build between groups of different people has been an essential part of my God-given design.

This too is such an important role for those of who are designed this way to fulfill their purpose. There are so many things in our culture that blaringly shouts to divide and conqueror, so more than ever, so if you are wired to cross-lines and build unity, nurture that design and step into doing that!

The Spirit also will highlight different aspects of our design at different times for certain purposes. Lately, He has highlighted my design for justice. This one has been more challenging for me, because though I am adventurous in many ways, I highly dislike conflict and don’t want to rock the boat. This is primarily due to deep-seated fear from my childhood, that I’ve been rooting out for years. Yet, the more free I’ve become to be truly who I’ve been created to be, the more justice has been a theme.

Much of the prayer assignments that I’ve traversed through the past several years have been highly justice driven, with themes of exposing evil and justice being done for the victims of trafficking and abuse. It you’d like to learn more about that, please check out my newest book, “An Intercessor’s Journey: Preparing Our Land for A New Era”

Presently, the Spirit has me on a journey of personal application of everything I wrote about in that book, except now, I am the one who is having justice given in my behalf. More on that in future posts. Yet, it is mind-blowing how much justice is an integral aspect of my life – literally an essential element of why I am here on this earth.

One of my favorite examples of design, is observed in one of my closest friends. She is designed with a “mothering” blue print. Yes. She is a mom and is excellent at home-making, which I’ve not been the best at. My family have always preferred going to dinner at her home, because of the comfort food and soothing feeling she exudes. Yet, it goes way beyond that. No matter where she is or who she is with, she vibes “mom”. Even strangers pick up on this design. She has on many occasions gone to hug someone, and the person she doesn’t even know melts into her embraces and bursts into tears, because they needed a mother’s love. I can promise you that I’ve never had that happen.

In closing, I encourage you to begin a path of discovery, if you have not already done so, of unwrapping the divine blue print God has placed in you. If you’d like to join others on this journey of discover and more, check out my monthly zoom class called, The Encounter Tribe.

We ALL have a purpose, a God-given design, for our destiny here, and it essential that we begin to uncover that blue print so that we can full everything written about us for this time and season. I really believe that. You are here on purpose, for a purpose, and it is a beautiful plan. Not easy. But beautiful.

Our imagination is the place within us where we can nurture and cultivate that design.

“For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, for good, not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jer. 29:11

“For you knit me together in my mother’s womb…” Psalm 139:13-15