Hi there! My name's Addey. I believe in Jesus. I believe that music can change your life. I believe in glitter and cupcakes and bubble baths and balloons and umbrellas. I believe that rainy days are perfect and my mom can fix everything. I believe that dancing around to One Direction can change the mood of the day. I believe that I just might be one of the luckiest girls alive.
God hears our prayers. He does NOT ignore them. So, when you pray for your husband, things like his spiritual walk, his purity, his emotions, his role as a father, leader and decision-maker, his security in work and finances, his health and physical protection, and his faith and future. The best gift we can give to our future husband is by praying for him right now. Our prayers brings strength and give glory to God. It is so humbling and pleases God so much to see us get on our knees every day and take the time to pray for our husbands, it shows just how much we are serious about this. God WILL answer our prayers and our prayers will be heard and moved in our husbands.
I sincerely hope the world constantly leaves me as exhausted as it has this week.
I’ve been at Beltway Park’s Epic Camp all this week and truly experienced the theme-Awaken. The thing I love about camp is that every part of you is totally worn down-physically, mentally, emotionally-and the only thing you’re going on is the Lord. I went off ziplines, walked all around camp, got hardly any sleep on a really crappy mattress, faceplanted on the ground and into the water and tried to make it on camp food-my body was so beaten up and I was constantly tired. My group was amazing but such a challenge for me-I’ve never led kids that were so upfront about what they’re facing. I’m used to Wylie kids who repress all their emotions and hide behind sports, nike shorts and flatbill hats, and their friends. All of a sudden, I was responsible for 10 kids who barely knew each other and had such a hard time opening up to each other, yet would lay their pasts, their hurts, their questions and their problems on us like it was nothing. I was battling their suicidal thoughts, their weight issues/eating disorders, their body image issues and lack of self confidence, their sexually abused pasts, their parents who would say things to them that should never be spoken over ANYONE much less kids, their unsupportive friends. All the while, I’m just sitting here shocked by what these kids are throwing in my lap and saying “Lord, I honestly cannot do this.” And He’s saying, “You know how faithful I am; yes you can.” And He showed up. One of my kids accepted Christ. One decided to rededicate herself. One found his purpose and extreme growth in spiritual gifts. One faced her fears in the name of the Lord. God just showed up and amazed me when I asked Him to. My eyes were so opened to His plan; I see now a small piece of what I’m gonna have to deal with and expect from going into full time ministry and how big of an undertaking it is, and I’m also seeing what huge blessings come from it. That I have to WORK for it, but mmm, my Savior’s gonna take my life and make it HIS and He will show me His plan and His purpose.
Basically, this experience left me so worn out. The only thing I was strong in was in my spirit-that’s all on Him. By the end of camp, there was nothing left of me and I was just leaning on him. Then I realized how exhausted I was and it got me thinking. I always want to be this tired. So physically worn out by doing constant ministry that I don’t have anywhere to go to be restored but to Him. So focused on my goal of making His name known and sharing with the world that He paid my debt and He called me beautiful, that nothing else matters to me. I’m so so so sick of trying to impress people. Come up with witty jokes. Spend so much time and money on cosmetics and the right clothes. Tweet the right tweets, listen to the right music, say the right words to make everyone like me, live in the world. I just realize how exhausted I am of trying to be so acceptable to everyone. I just want to be acceptable to my Jesus. And if something’s gonna wear me out and make me so tired-I don’t want the death of me to be something as trivial as trying to impress the human race. I want to be so worn out physically with ministry that my only strength is my relationship with Christ. I want Him to be the one who gets me through my day and I want to work so hard to make sure He is honored and glorified with my actions, and every night when it comes time to rest, I want the only one who gets credit for my physical restoration and renewal of energy each morning to be the same Creator who wrote that morning into existence.
I’m not saying I’m gonna be the best Christian ever. I’m saying I’m gonna screw up every day-and He will be my strength, correct me and show me how to walk in love. All I can ask for is prayer that this longing to have the world exhaust me daily is more of an everyday occurrence and a way of life than just something I post on Tumblr. So please please please keep this in your prayers. I wanna be shaped and molded so that at the end of my life, He will look at me and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Most of us use ‘I’m waiting for God to reveal His calling on my life’ as a means of avoiding action. Did you hear God calling you to sit in front of the television yesterday? Or to go on your last vacation? Or exercise this morning? Probably not, but you still did it. The point isn’t that vacations or exercise are wrong, but that we are quick to rationalize our entertainment and priorities yet are slow to commit to serving God.
