How's your soul?

This morning as I was driving Adalyn to her 4 month old check-up at the doctor's office, I heard a new song for the 1st time. It's called "Give me your eyes" by Brandon Heath (it is the 1st song on my playlist) and I was blown away once again by God's timing in my life.

I have had something heavy hanging on my heart for awhile and haven't really had the time to process it as much as I've wanted. I've been praying about it for quite some time now. I've been asking God to give me some answers, to point me in the right direction, to teach me what it is that he wants me to learn from this. And all of a sudden I feel like in a matter of one week God gave me the answers I've been longing for.


Our Pastor's wife spoke this past sunday at church about "I wanna go to a church that....." and we were left to fill in the blanks. Here are just a handful of responses to that question that our church came up with!
I wanna go to a church that......
~ is "real" and genuine
~ I can dance at
~ teaches the biblical truth about God
~ that supports one another
~ that is there for each other in the good and bad times of our seasons of following Christ
~ can have fun together
~ can cry together
~ makes everyone that comes through the door feel loves, valued and special
~ teaches other about God's love and sacrifice
~ reaches out to the community
~ Loves people right where they are at
~ teaches with actions

It was an amazing service and I feel blessed to be part of such a wonderful church family that is more concerned about people's souls than they are about clothing, tatoos, hats and other non spoken rules that seem to consume some churches.


I grew up in a very traditional church that had very traditional "rules" in which one was to follow. As a child, I never questioned those rules, I just obeyed them. It wasn't until I graduated from High School that I started questioning many of those "rules". They just didn't make sense to me. Now don't get me wrong, I love a lot of people from my old traditonal church and I love those people for the things they have taught me. But in my journey of quietly following the slap of God's sandals, I've feel like I've been stretched as a person and in many lessons in this journey of finding God's desire for my life, I've learned this:

God is more concerned about my soul and the souls of his children than he is anything else.

I in all honesty don't think that God sits up in heaven and keeps track of what I wear to church, I don't think he cares if the person sitting next to me in church has on a hat during the service or wears designer clothes with name brand shoes. I don't think he desires me or anyone else to show up at church and put on a happy face and pretend that I am perfect and don't struggle with life. I don't think he cares if the person in front of me has a tatoo or piercings or is clean cut and prime and proper. I really don't think he cares if I have red, blue, green, brown or black hair.

I think God is far more concerned with my soul and the soul of the person sitting in front, behind and beside me. His desire for us is to fall greater in love with him. To seek out his face. To sit at his feet and give all we have to him. To love others and to share his love by simply loving them like he loves us. To make a meal for a family that is having a rough time, to mail a card to someone that needs to hear they are important enough to remember, to take the time to sit down and listen to someone that just needs a shoulder to cry on. Somehow I feel like though the years churchs have made something so simple, so complicated.

I still remember when I learned the simple, but profound truth that teaching others about God is simply loving others as Christ loves us.

I was in Mexico with some of the most God filled people I have met and we spent a week simply loving others. We took the time to look into the face of a homeless woman and spent the time to get to know her. To learn about her life, her struggles and what led her to this place. The real her, the person behind the broken face and broken heart. We took the time to play with children, to touch, to laugh, to talk, to love and to pray for each of them. We took the time to wash the feet of a child, to hug a young mother, to give a little boy a haircut, to build a house for a family and to paint the toenails of a smiling little girl. It was that week that I learned that teaching others about Christ is simply, loving them right where they are at. It's not about rules, sunday best clothes, hymn books and organ music. It's about simply loving and seeing others through Christ's eyes.

Dear God,

Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
(Chorus - Give me your eyes by Brandon Heath)


This is my prayer tonight.

With much Love,
~Rebecca