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What’s that one thing you believe God put you on earth to do?  Have you ever thought about it?  What’s the one thing you believe every part of you has been created, crafted, uniquely woven to do while you’re on this earth?     You might be thinking…”Those are pretty hard and deep questions, too hard for me to figure out.”  I understand!  They ARE hard and deep and sometimes feel like they could have so many different answers.

As I type this, I am praying that God would just pour His wisdom through these words and say what He wants to say…

We’re all created in His image.  God came among us as Jesus Christ and showed us how to live.  He probably had everybody pulling Him in so many directions; yet He had a purpose…to do the will of His Father.

We all have a purpose…to do the will of our Father.  We have each been crafted with unique talents, gifts, personalities, likes and dislikes to be used for bringing praise to our Creator and Savior.  Everything we do should point other people to Christ.

Have you ever noticed how busy we all get???  Sure you have and sure you are!  We are ALL busy, and busy at many (many, many) good things. Let’s look back on Jesus’ life.  He had many people asking Him for things.  After all, they had God in the flesh walking among them.  We probably all would have been asking Him for things!  Jesus, however, concentrated on what He was here for, knowing that He had created people to be able to do His work with His help and the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus kept looking to God the Father and kept His focus on doing His will.  Jesus wasn’t here on earth by accident and neither are we.  Jesus had a purpose for being here and so do we.  He created us that way…WITH A PURPOSE…with HIS purpose.

If you don’t know what that is, ask Him.  If you don’t know HIM, ask Him to make Himself known to you.  He DOES have a purpose for your life and mine.  The way He made you is different than how He made your brother, or sister, or neighbor, or ___________ (you fill in the blank).

I believe that over a lifespan, you will do many things that work together to become the ‘one thing’ He created you for.  After all, we change during different seasons of life.  We grow, mature, slip, get back up.  One thing remains, though.  God has a purpose for your life.  Don’t ever forget that.  He wants to use each of us to touch people’s lives.  Maybe you love to sing (like I do).  God may use you to sing a song that will speak His life into a person’s life for the very first time and they realize God loves them and has a purpose for their life.  Maybe you like to draw, run, build things, play golf, work on engines!  Whatever it is, He can use it if you give it to Him and surrender control.

He died for you.  You’re special to Him.  He will help you figure it out.  He will help you as you surrender all the good stuff for His best.  Why not let Him?

Pray with me…Lord, please help me to give you every part of me, I mean EVERY part.  Help me to know without a doubt that You created me intentionally, with a purpose, to bring honor and glory to You.  Help me allow You to do what only You can do in and through me.  Please make clearer and clearer the path You have for me and help me trust You, especially on days and seasons when the path gets hard to see.  Thank You, in advance, that You’re going to do amazing things in and through me because You created me that way…to honor You.  You’re a good God and I love you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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I learned something from my dog, Rivers, this morning…well, really from God but through my dog.  We were out on our morning walk and I kept doing as I always do, nudging her to keep walking and she did as she always does, kept right on sniffing areas for way too long in my opinion!  This time, though, I was reminded of the fact that she hadn’t been out on a walk for several days due to rain so I was trying to be a little more sympathetic and give her a few more seconds of sniffing pleasure.
 
That’s when it happened…I felt my Lord saying to me, “Why the rush? Rivers isn’t rushing and what do you have pressing that requires so much rushing through this time?  Enjoy this.”
 
WOW!  How many times do I have to be reminded to just stop rushing?!  I KNOW this but I don’t act on it.  I know that there are not people that say on their death beds that they wished they had rushed through life just a little more.  NO…truth be told we probably all need to stop rushing through life and “stop to smell the roses” (to use an old adage).  img_0627
 
Sometimes, too, we will be able to hear the Lord speaking a little more clearly.  As I was just reminded at beachCHURCH this past Sunday through our pastor, Todd, God doesn’t speak with a loud, thunderous voice.  He speaks in a gentle whisper.
 
Thank You, Lord, for using Rivers to show me how to enjoy moments You give us.  Thank You for helping me to see that time already flies so fast that I don’t need to miss it.  Help us all to let up on the leash just a little bit and allow You to speak into our busyness, allow You to help us enjoy life just a little more.  Thank You for loving us even when we’re rushing and loving us too much to let us stay content in the rat race.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

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The other day I was getting ready in our bathroom and I “felt” the Lord speak to me…

I have always been a person who wanted to do things ‘by myself.’  My family always kidded me, “Oh don’t try to help Kristi open that jar.  She wants to do it by herself!”  It’s true.  I wanted to open the jar, the can, the whatever, by myself.  I guess, in this way, I wanted to be independent.  I wanted to feel the accomplishment.  I wanted to be proud of what I could do alone.  I’ve always looked as this personality trait as a plus, something I was kinda proud of, something that meant I would always give everything to try my best.  I still think it can be a positive trait; however, as I felt God speak to me the other day, I started to think of it in a different way…

I have a daughter who is the same as I was (am) in this.  Sidney wants to do everything ‘by herself.’  She wants to be independent when she wants to be independent, if you know what I mean.  I’ve told her many times over the years that she’s just like me.  Lately, though, I have seen Sidney not wanting to ask for help, even from the Lord.  She seems to think she doesn’t need to ask for help.
Maybe I was thinking about this the other day or maybe God just needed to tell me while I was in one place doing one thing, brushing my teeth.  He impressed on my heart that even though I’d always wanted to do things myself, He never created us to be alone.  He created us to be in community, to need others…most importantly, to need Him.
WOW!  I had never thought of my need to do things ‘by myself’ as a form of pride…until then.  I had never thought of my need to not ask for help as something that was keeping me from allowing others the privilege of helping someone…until then.  Until then, I had prided myself in the fact that I had always wanted to do things, sometimes over and over again, with no one’s help, mind you!  God spoke, though.  He told me it’s okay for me, and Sidney, and you, to want to try to do things on our own.  It’s okay to even try to do them over and over again, as long as we know that we know that we know we need others, most importantly, our Lord and Savior, to help when we struggle.
We were not made to be alone.  In Genesis 2, God even said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper suitable for him.”
We were not made to be alone.
We need each other.
Let’s help each other.
Let’s let others help us.

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REST

Rest.  What a seemingly simple word.  It is only four letters.  But, oh, the implications it can have on a life that actually does it!
My husband, Russell, will often say to me, “Sit down…rest.”  There’s that word again.  It’s sometimes, (I’m being a little too easy on myself), it’s often difficult for me to sit down and rest.  We homeschool our children, Will and Sidney, and this year is the first of many years to come of a lot more to do.  Me and our 2 amazing kidsWill is in eighth grade and Sidney is in third grade.  Their workloads are only increasing from here.  So, as I write this, I am looking back on yesterday – a Saturday that we were actually home and not out on the road doing ministry.  I had a terrible day because I couldn’t seem to rest. There’s that word again!
Saturdays, in my mind, were meant for catching up on the things you couldn’t get done during the week.  Well, because I homeschool, I had laundry, tons of emails to go through and send, and just the normal cleaning.  What I needed more than anything, though, was to rest.  There’s that…you get the picture.
Jesus had a few things to say about resting.  He tells us to come to Him, all who are weary and burdened and He will give us rest.  He says our souls will find rest.  He told His apostles to come away to a quiet and desolate place and rest a while because there were so many people needing them that they hadn’t even had a chance to eat!  We are to “be still and know that He is God.”  We are to rest.
I have to realize…it’s okay to rest.  Our bodies are designed to rest.  We can’t function properly without it.  Sometimes we just need a day, or even a few hours, doing things that instill joy into our lives:  playing games with our kids, watching a movie, or just napping or taking a long bath.  Maybe you haven’t just sat quietly and waited for the Lord to speak.  Tell yourself, “It’s okay to rest!”  Say it with me, “It’s okay to rest!”  One more time, “It’s okay to rest!”
Now, I wonder if your family will notice?  I think they will.  I think mine will.  When we’re rested, we can hear The Holy Spirit’s voice louder, easier. We can feel the joy that He intended for us.  I think our Heavenly Father will smile as we take time rest.
Now, can you count how many times I used the word REST?  Oh stop it…go rest!!
Kristi 🙂 

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House Concert tour coming Fall 2014!

Well – we’ve got a crazy idea and we are wondering if you’ll help us with it???

We’re putting together a house concert tour starting in August and running into the Fall…anyone interested in hosting a house concert? It would be such fun sitting in your living room/backyard with 20-25+ of your friends singing, laughing, maybe even crying…    If you’ve got a living room and friends…that’s all you need!  We put the idea out on our Facebook page last week and the response has been great!  There are still dates available for both weekends or week nights but the weekends will go fast!  Let us know and we can send you a pdf document with all the details and requirements. Call us 843-446-2983 or email kristi@rkpraise.net!

Based on the initial response to this idea, we are also looking to add house concerts to our ‘Love Is Here’ Christmas tour as well!  More to come on that idea.

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The End or the Beginning?

I can’t believe it’s almost the end of the school year.  As a homeschool family, school is just a part of our lives…everyday, all day, we’re thinking of ways this or that can be educational.  When you think of it, everything can somehow turn into a learning experience. That’s one of the cool things about traveling like we do with our music ministry.  We can take the kids with us on a lot of the trips and they get to learn on the go…

Ft. Caswell Conference Center - Oak Island, NC

More than a chance to learn on the go is the opportunity to spend so much time with our kids.  They grow up so fast – we all know.  Homeschooling has given us a chance to connect on a different level.  As parents, we are their first teachers.  We teach them how to walk, talk, and be with others.  We hope they see in us Christ’s love.  We teach them how to show that love to each other and hopefully, as they grow, they will show it to those around them, even those who are much different than they are.
As I said earlier, I can’t believe the end of this year is almost here.  I’ll have an eighth grader and a third grader!  How did that happen!!  I’ll be glad it’s over but also, I’ll be a little sad.  I really enjoy schooling our children – as aggravating as it can get sometimes.  I enjoy seeing them learn and ‘get it’ for the first time.  I enjoy seeing Will, our oldest, teach Sidney, his younger sister – being so patient with her.  There are many things I love that I’ll miss for a while.  But the good thing is…we’re always learning and we’re always teaching.
So even though the school year is coming to an end and summer’s getting ready to begin, school – or learning – will continue, hopefully, for a lifetime!