Do not let life pass us by...

Do not let life pass us by without:

Taking the time to breathe before words escape our mouth in anger. The awareness of our emotions as they run so close to our skin can become our greatest strength. A valued relationship can be destroyed with one word.

Realizing when we are at our worst, God is at His best. Remember the Footprints poem?

Kissing every baby we meet. More than once.

Reaching out a hand to help someone when we can. We all experience opportunities to give of ourselves. Fear of rejection is simply not a good excuse anymore. Christ faced rejection the entire time He was on earth. He even faces it in Heaven. Hmm... We won't have to worry about rejection in Heaven, will we?

Understanding there are so many things that we cannot control. As soon as these situations become present in our lives, let us focus on our adaptability. The ability to adapt has kept mankind in existence.

In addition to the above, we should realize certain issues allow for no compromise. When we face our convictions, let us stand firm. When presenting our convictions, let us not pass judgement.

Opening our own hearts whenever there is a tug. A cold heart dies a lonely heart.

Praising God every opportunity we have. We all have a hard time understanding God's holiness. This means He is whole. He is the only one of us who will ever be complete. And let us praise Him for being a God of grace.

I mean.... What Im trying to say is... I pray we all reach a point when today doesn't matter as much as eternity does. I pray we all focus on the big picture and not what our neighbors are doing. Judgement is so easy. I'm guilty and I am sure at one point you have judged me. I expect it. Why else would I ask your opinion?

At some point, we all see a beautiful sunset. Or a butterfly land on a flower. Or a rainstorm in the middle of a drought. Or a baby smile. Or a friend after it has been years. Perhaps we experience a peace among chaos or a good day among a hundred days of torture.

Every person walking among us has a gift. EVERY person. Let us embrace those gifts and not shun what we perceive as flaws.

Every person has an opinion. Let us listen to it and if we do not agree, at least respect it.

Every person has worth. Even if we do not see it, let us understand it is there. Furthermore, if we do not see it, let us not question our God by doubting our neighbor's worth. God is especially fond of them.

When we open our eyes to the world, what do we see? The headlines in our news? The images flashing across the news? The destruction and the chaos and the hate and the sin that floats into our lives like poison in a stream???

When we open our eyes to our communities, what do we see?? The drugs and sex and violence and apparent hopelessness within our generation? I tell you this, people usually become what is expected of them.

The images I have just described are a lot of what I see. I don't like it. At times, I have played the role of the culprit. We all have. Action and inaction are both damaging. Do we beat the crowd, join it, or ignore it?

When the day becomes the worst day ever, it usually begins that way. Wake up, thank God you woke up, praise God for His greatness, and don't stop talking to Him until the day has gone. While you communicate with Him, however that may be (there is no wrong way) try to find things to smile about.

Let us allow change within us. Let us become a catalyst for a friend in need. Let us offer ourselves as hands and feet to God. We can make a difference. I believe that- I have too many AMAZING friends on facebook who have impacted my life in ways they don't even realize. If you are reading this, you are probably one of them. I thank you for that, until you are better paid ;-)

Much love in Christ!

Fly With Christ!

Imagine a little girl about the age of four. Her auburn ringlets frame her innocent face and her cuepie smile always brings about your own smile. Imagine her in her bedroom full of pink and lace. The room is orderly and filled with the desires of any four year old angel. Imagine her lying on her belly on the floor as she chooses her red crayon to scribble into the heart on her coloring book page. She is a child who chooses silence over complaint. You often catch her gazing about in wonder, as if she is putting together the pieces of the puzzle. When there are storms of lightning, thunder and rain, she credits our God.

This child you imagine lies within you. Change some physical features and this child is all of us.
We are all born with depth and insight and perception.
We are all born because God had a plan for our existance.

As soon as the seed was planted, Angels rejoiced at our arrival.
As soon as our time came to be born, tears of joy flooded Heaven's floor.
When our first cries penetrated the delivery room, the ones who were present felt the presence of God.

As we developed and passed each milestone, our loved ones praised us.
As we grew up, we grew into the world.
We became jaded and began to lose the innocense.


The coloring book page, outlined for us to fill in our own expression of life, is symbolic of God's intention for us. He placed the path before us, and all we had to do was stay in the lines.

At some point, we made a mess of the page and it did not measure up to God's expectation.
Perhaps it did not meet our own expectations, either.

The most perfect way to finish the picture is to end up with the image of our own imagination. How many times have we began to fill in the colors, only to find flaws in the finished product?

Ask an artist or an author or a musician to critique his own masterpiece, and you will be given the flaws or the opportunities.

A teacher pointed out recently that a book is never finished. This statement alone provided me with so much relief; I am the master of starting something, only to put it aside. I realize now that I have done this time and time again because the progress does not measure up to my own expectations.


I once made the decision not to proofread my own writing. I have stuck with this strategy because it enables me to be free in creativity and removes my self doubt.

As sinners, we are often shaped by negative experiences and actions we just can't erase. We often have regrets about decisions we have made. We often carry these burdens for a long time; even if we find the way to forgive ourselves, others are quick to remind us of our errors.

Fortunately, we were not given life to please man. We were not even given life to please ourselves. We were given life to please God.

Think about that.

Why else would we be here?

God began to create out of a longing. He created the Heavens. There were angels and spirits and God rejoiced in their company and they praised Him.

Then the most beautiful angel equated himself to God. We all know the story.

God then commanded the Earth into existence to make a home for us. We all know the story.

Upon the original sin, the hope for a perfect man was gone. We all know the story.

Because God's love self-sacrificing Agape love, He put on some skin and came to earth so that His creation would follow Him and join Him in Heaven. He did not come to die, He came so that we may live. Caught up in the world view of righteousness, Christ's persecutors could not see the Father in Him.

Maybe we have been looking in the wrong places, too.

God does not seek out the righteous, He seeks out the sinners. He uses our lives to reach out to those like us. His faithfulness is neverending and He will never stop calling.

We should all seek His Beauty, and not the appearances of the world.

I will end by quoting my new great friend, Brittany Gilmore. I don't think she will mind...



....but the most breathtaking beauty of all is the Beauty where every other kind of true beauty finds its form. unwavering love—deep and wild. a hope that sometimes seems so dangerous… because it seems at times too good to be true, and at others too crazy to be real (as if amongst all of the religions, one was ambiguously labeled true). but this Beauty is not confined to the traditions that we have built around Him, or the minds that try to grasp Him. …most of the time i do not understand such Beauty, but it answers all of the questions where other beauties have always failed.

He is. He made all the beauty that is. it flows from His very being.





Fly with Christ. It will be the best decision you could ever make.

Emilie