The Importance of Going to Church

It seems like most of my life I have had a love-hate relationship with church. I loved going to Sunday school as a child. As a teenager, I spent every minute thinking about unimportant things like what I was going to wear to school the next day, or wondering what my boyfriend was up to, you know, the things that make you wonder why you are even in church. Once I got into college and the choice was left up to me. Of course I wasn't going to get up on Sunday morning to go to church, when I could sleep in a couple extra hours.  I occasionally went to church with my parents when I was home visiting, but other than that my church days were pretty limited, unless you count watching Joel Osteen on TV. Now as a wife and mother, I have come to realize the value in going to church. 

Being someone that went a lot of years without going to church consistently, I have definitely lost a lot of my knowledge of the Lord and ultimately my faith. One thing my pastor said a few weeks ago that really hit home, was that the enemy tries to trick you into thinking your relationship with God is perfect. That's exactly what happened! I was tricked into thinking I didn't need to go to church because my relationship with God was fine. In all reality, no ones relationship with God is perfect. We can always strive to become closer to God and stronger in our faith. There is always something new to learn. Our relationship with God is similar to that of our spouse, parents, or children, we are continuing to learn new things, it's a constant learning process. Everyday should be looked at as a chance to grow stronger with them, and the same holds true with the Lord. Going to church is a place where the Lord is present, and is a great opportunity to learn more about the Lord and become closer in your relationship. 

You know that age old saying...if you don't use it, you lose it? Fellowship is one of the most sincere forms of practicing your faith in the Lord. You practice in order to get better. You go to church to learn more about faith, and enhance your faith. Taking time out of your day to go to church is hard, especially when you feel like there are so many other things you need to get done. We live in a fast paced world and it's easy to forget fellowship. I'm here to say, slow down and think about what really matters. 

You might think your relationship with the Lord is perfect because you read the Bible, go to church occasionally, or pray often, I know at one point I was guilty of them all. Think about what you are spending your time on. So many of us, myself included, spend so much of our time practicing other things like social media, and we think taking a few hours out of the week to go to church is HARD. It's not! Take those few hours out of the week and invest them in the Lord, because you are investing in your future with the Lord and let's face it, forever is a long time. 

One last thing, the Bible says (Matthew 18:20) "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." If you knew Jesus was going to be at a certain place at a certain time, you would drive a million miles to be with him. Jesus is in your church every Sunday, proud of each of us because we are there in his name. Go to church and get closer with the Lord.

Write Your Future For 2014 {a clean sheet}

Every year I make goals for the new year, most of which involve fitness and eating healthy. I love to do it, mostly because I love making lists. I swear, if I got paid for each list I made, I would be doing pretty good. Anyway, who doesn't love the new year and all the resolutions, it's essentially as if you get to start over. This year I am particularly excited about writing my resolutions.

One of my husband's best friend's Mom sent us an amazing letter a few weeks back and it has really changed my perspective about writing my New Year's Resolutions. She is an amazing person, and she has done so much for us. I can't begin to tell you the joy I feel when she is around. When I received the package in the mail, I tore right into it because she always sends the most thoughtful things. As I began to read through it, my tummy started to tickle and I could just feel a wondrous joy in my heart. I found myself reading it over again because as I read the words I became more and more inspired to write a new future for myself and my family.

She had asked for a specific prophecy, from the Lord, for each person in her family. One night she heard it loud and clear, "it's time." She asked, "time for what?". The Lord answered with, "It's time to ask me for miracles." She said it was like he was in the room with her, she just awoke in the middle of the night to his voice. She couldn't tell if she heard the words aloud, or it was in her heart ( I love that feeling).  A few days after God spoke to her she got an e-mail from the Elijah List and it was as if it was God that sent the e-mail to her. It was the exact explanation for God's word a few days earlier, "it's time to ask me for miracles." It's times like that, you know it's God speaking to you, the chills are just a side effect :)! God wants each of us to write a large future for ourselves. Take time to sit down and write your hearts desires on a blank sheet of paper for 2014. Get excited about it, believe that everything you write on that blank sheet of paper will come true. Pray about it everyday, talk to the Lord about it, ask for answers, ask for those miracles you have been wanting. Take some time to yourself to really get into it. Pretend you are writing a story and you are the main character, you have a whole book to fill about whatever you want for your life. Be strong and courageous, write down things you can't even imagine happening to you, this is your time to ask for miracles. God wants you to ask for them, ask and you shall receive. I encourage you all to read the e-mail, he does a great job of explaining what God wants us all to do, as well as getting you pumped up for a great year in 2014!! The e-mail can be found HERE.