Courage

God is so good!

I have been blessed to lead such amazing group of young women. Tonight at Bible study we talked about courage and what it looks like to posses courage in our daily lives. It was really challenging and left me with a lot to process.

The book my co-study leader and I are using to guide this study is "Who You Are When No One's Looking", by Bill Hybels. It's a study about character and it rocks! Tonight the focus was on courage which Hybels splits into five separate sections: courage to follow, courage in the ordinary, courage to be vulnerable, relational courage, and courage to be moral. One of the sections of the study that really got me was the need of courage to follow. How could it possibly take courage to follow? Isn't following easy? Well, no, the truth is is that following is hard. It takes courage to have faith in the truth of the Lord and trust in his goodness. In the crazy world we live in today, it would be so easy to doubt the goodness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "we walk by faith and not by sight". By this courageous faith we walk alongside the Lord. Faith doesn't require a physical thing that we can touch or see. Faith is trusting in the Lord's goodness and walking alongside Him. So what would life look like if you lived with a courageous faith? Living without fear of other's judgement, willingness to be vulnerable in conversations or interactions with others, trusting God's faithfulness through everything you experience, knowing that by having faith in the Lord all things are possible! How awesome would that be...to love the Lord so much that you had a courageous faith and shared God's love with others.

I want to live the courageous life like the stories we read in the Bible. To live without fear of vulnerability, rejection, or insecurity. To love God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. How great life would be.

“You cannot sit still and expect courage to come and find you. You have to go after it.”

Love God. Love Life. Keep Walking.

Adopted

Adopt.

What does that really mean? Well, it means to choose or take as one's own; make one's own by selection or assent. So what does that look like in the context of the Lord and his kingdom? Well, a couple weeks ago I went to a new church while I was home and the message and majority of the service was dedicated to baptisms. Awesome! More brothers in sisters in Christ! What an awesome thing. However, that's not what really caught my attention that morning. A little boy, about 11 years old was being baptized. He was an absolutely adorable biracial little boy who looked ecstatic about his upcoming baptism. Before he was baptized, the minister read aloud a little story that they boy had written about himself and his journey leading up to his baptism. In his story, he told us about his adoption to his new parents when he was just a little baby. Later on in his story, he told us he had been adopted twice.

My first reaction was, "Oh my days, this poor child has been through two adoptions. How hard his life has been". Then the minister went on to tell us that the boy was adopted once into his new family and a second time into the Lord's family. How cool is that! It's a very simple idea, but it still struck me with full force. Just like that little boy who was adopted into the Lord's family, I am adopted too. He selected me, and you, to be apart of this incredible family.

"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding."
Ephesians 1:4-7

How beautiful is that?! I feel overwhelmed with joy to be apart of God's family.

God is good. Keep on walking.