Sometimes I think that you people get tired of so many posts but then I see how many of you guys look at them and send me comments so I have decided to try and update pretty frequently at least while I have dependable internet. By the way, if everyone that has read my blog over the last week donated just $10 to this trip than I would be 59% funded! Now, you don’t have an excuse because you can buy a t-shirt and get something for the money that you are donating! Send me a direct message, text or comment below with your size and send me money and I will put your name down. If everyone that has read the blog bought 1 t-shirt then I would be 65% funded! They are only $20 and come in YM-AXXXL. They will be in in just a few weeks after I get enough orders to make one! As always, thank you to everyone that has donated and more importantly prayed and encouraged not only me but also my team! We can’t do this without y’all.
I made a trip to Auburn (for you people that don’t know it is the best school in the state of Alabama) over the long weekend away from work and obviously I have to blog about it. As I was driving there I was sort of taken aback because this had only been my second time back since graduating a few years ago. I hate to say it but I was a tourist when arriving in that good ol’ town. I had Toomer’s Lemonade while admiring those new trees with Samford in the background while decked out in my orange and blue. I met up with my good friend, Kasey, who was such a huge part of my Auburn journey and it was beyond refreshing to spend time with her. Throughout the time hanging out with her, which had to be short lived thanks to grown up life, I was reminded of how beautiful the Lord is. I was reminded of how the Lord has blessed us with people in our lives to go through the tough things with. How He wants us to have community and not fight these battles or celebrate these victories alone. A victory is so much sweeter when you have a group of people rallying around you pushing you through it. All throughout the seasons of life the Lord puts people in our lives for those moments and if we are lucky some of those people stick around for future seasons. I love to look back throughout high school and then in college and now where I am in this “grownup life” and see all the people that the Lord has blessed me with. Those friends that have been in my life for a few years, who are far away and I don’t talk to often but we still somehow pick right back up and talk about the tough things and the great things is probably my favorite. Some have been in my life from the beginning and some have just found their way into it over the last year and even last few months and every single one of them is beautiful. Whenever I think of friendship (and relationships in general) there are a few verses that come to mind and you probably all know them.
“A person standing alone can be attacked AND defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple- braided cord is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12
“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17
One of my FAVORITES on this subject comes from Exodus (which if you read my other post you know that I LOVE that book). In Exodus 17 the Israelites fought the Amalekites that attacked them. It tells us that “as long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage.” There are so many lessons in these few verses that I could go on for days but I will just stick to my favorite. We all know that when you hold your arms up for too long, whether holding something or not, they begin to get tired and weak and even hurt. Just like when we are walking through the valley seasons of this life we get tired, weak and we hurt. We want to give up and throw in the towel. But Moses wasn’t just holding his arms up for himself but for the people that were following him. The people that were looking up to him. The Israelites COULD NOT win on their own, they needed Moses to hold up his arms and Moses recognized that. So, as we all know Moses’ arms began to grow tired and weak but since he recognized that lives were dependent on him he didn’t give up. This next part is what I LOVE. Verse 12 tells us “Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. SO Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. THEN they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset.” Y’all, we can’t do this life on our own. We can’t go through the valley and come out on top if we are going through it by our own power and our own might. We have to have people in our lives to hold up our arms and help us to be victorious. We have to have people that are the iron that sharpens us to be better and to do better and to push us into all that the Lord has for us. We have to have a cord of three strands so that when we are tested we are not broken. I have a friend that has been going through a battle for a few years now and it is one where she has such an army rallying around her to win it. When she gets bad news we all get bad news, when she gets good news we all rejoice with her. I always remind her that she is not winning this battle on her own. She is winning this battle because of the Aaron and Hurs that are around her, praying her through it and holding her arms up when she can’t anymore.
Not only are we to have Aaron and Hurs in our lives but we are called to be the Aaron and Hur in other people’s lives. We are called to be there to hold them up, to encourage them, to pray for them. We are called to be that iron that sharpens them. To pour out what the Lord is pouring into our lives. I have learned over the last few days after talking with a teammate that we are all in this together. A lot of times when you are going through something you will find someone in your life that has been through that same thing before and they are there to help you through it because they have been there and they have done that. Just as it says about Paul “he is now preaching this very gospel that he persecuted us for.” Whatever you have been through can be turned around to help others. Be encouraged that nothing that happens is in vain. That this fire you are going through is to refine you and make you more like Him. That this pressure you are under is to make you shine bright like a diamond (cheesy, music lyrics. You’re welcome). Back to Moses recognizing that this wasn’t just about him: we have to realize that people are watching us. They are watching how we respond to trials and persecution. They are also watching how we respond to victories and blessings. Are we handling the tough stuff with grace? Are we handling the victories with humility? Nothing turns someone off to Christianity like a Christ follower puffed up with pride or one that is miserable. “Consider it all joy when you go through trials…” “Be joyful always.” Your kids, your kids’ friends, your friends’ kids, your parents, your siblings, your classmates, and your co-workers are watching how you’re dealing with this life if you claim to follow Jesus. They want to know the authenticity of this relationship that you claim. So “live your life worthy of the calling of Christ” and always, always point people to Him!
Alright, enough is enough. Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE and SHARE this blog so that people can see all that the Lord is doing!! Also, don’t forget that T-Shirts are for sale, you can SUPPORT ME with no T-shirt up top, and there is a gift registry on REI.com for the remaining gear that I need. I also need all of your spring cleaning items for an upcoming garage sale! Thank you so much to everyone! I am currently 35% funded; AKA $5,775 into this! There are not enough words to thank everyone for all that you have done!
“I always thank my God as I remember you in my prayers…” Philemon 1:4
