And this is where my heart breaks...

The candle light flickered as they came to the altar. Preps and nerds, freaks and emo, rich and poor...

From the ages of 13 to their 40's they came and on this night these differences no longer mattered because we all shared a dark and hidden secret in common. We all had labels, lies really, which had taken root in our lives and begun to define us.

Worthless

Shy

Fat

Ugly

Stupid

Slut

Used, and unloved.

Not worth your time...

And the labels continued as the stones dropped into the water. Some were written in tears and others in anger.

All were confessed from deep wounds cut and forged by the words that came from a tongue waging war...

These labels may have been based on choices these girls and women once made, but the true travesty is when later these vicious labels took root and defined the girl and her future. 

These lies devoured and gorged on each one's hopes and dreams until she had been bled dry and found  hopeless.

Truth was a distant echo...

What was the truth about her identity anymore?

Words, labels, and the gossip that falls so easily from our lips is devastating and its leprous effects are lasting.

Do you realize what we are really doing though?

We are tearing down the very handiwork of God.

You see God labors over his precious creations daily. Minute by minute He is carefully clearing away the rubble, and laying a sure foundation built on His truths. Building brick by brick with care because each of these children is one of His beautiful masterpieces.

That’s you and me friends.

Yet, we are so very quick to tear each other down through hurt, anger, revenge, and our own deep wounds.

Sometimes it's someone else's foundation we choose to wreak our havoc on and other times it can be our own. We ravage it and plant the seeds of destruction that will soon crack the mortar and start the walls to crumbling down when enough pressure is applied...

And these seeds we are spewing come from one source...the enemy.

He is a liar from the beginning, and a murderer who wants to steal our joy. He roams around this earth looking for those whom he can devour and kill, but here is the real question for us...  Do we know Jesus?

I mean do we really know Him? 

Because as believers we should be following His example right?

 What was His response to the ones who wore these very labels?

The Slut?

The Worthless?

The Liar?

The woman caught in the very act of sleeping with a married man. Who was grabbed from a bed still warm and then dragged out to be publicly humiliated and stoned.

Jesus dismissed her accusers by pointing to the sin in all of us. He offered her forgiveness and told her to sin no more.

And the woman scoffed at for weeping over his feet and anointing his head with oil. The one that the men in the room dismissed as a worthless sinner...

He called attention to her faithfulness. He pointed out the depths of her gratefulness that led her to bravely walk into this religiously self righteous leader's home, just to thank Jesus for His amazing gift of grace, love, and forgiveness.

And the liar?

The chief tax collector, the man people despised because he not only collected the taxes for Rome, but was lining his own wealthy over-flowing pockets by charging even more from the poor.

Oh how the people despised him.

Wouldn't you?

But, the wealthy tax collector had heard about Jesus… that Jesus was coming to his town and a deep chasm broke open within him. He knew with every fiber of his being he had to see this mysterious Jesus. So much so, that at the cost of losing his standing and respect in wealthy society, he climbed a tree in hope of just catching a glimpse of him.

Jesus, who had every right to yell at this putrid excuse of a man, instead told him while he was still up in the tree He wanted to have dinner with him that very night...In front of everyone.

Jesus, You were so the King of the shock and awe.

Son of God, You turn our notion of justice on its head.

In each account these people's lives were radically changed by encounters with the living God who chose to see past their labels and love them right where they were. Faith and repentance followed in a beautiful mix that replaced their muddied and hopeless past with freedom, hope, and a new life.

So what about you? Will you make war on labels my friends?

Can we, like these beautiful teen girls and women I met the other night, cast down our stones with their slanderous labels and say no more?

Will you wage war instead with Truth and Love?

 This is a two part series so more on this soon friends… Hope is around the bend.

Are you struggling too friend?

Will you take a moment in prayer and ask God to reveal the lies and labels in your life that are not from Him?

Will you name them and cast them down with us today and say no more?

I am linking with intentional.me , wednesdays word

Humble Pie and a List to Live By.

Don't they look so sweet and angelic here?

My friends, my children have humbled me. I mean it. I have found myself flat-out speechless, dumbfounded, and convicted by their sweet hearts and wise words. They have given me the hope and camaraderie I have desperately been seeking for. 

Since my trip to Africa I have not been able to process what to do with all of my "stuff".

When I returned home, I went on a tear going through our closets to give stuff away to the poor, but after a while I was back in the rush and bustle of ministry and life with three active and involved kids.

 When our schedule slowed down, moments would occur when I would once again look at all that I had and feel overwhelmed...where do I start? I really don't need this stuff. I wanted it, but I didn't need it. (Sadly I know I bought it because I had convinced myself that I needed it. Oh the tangled web I can weave.)

Now, back to my kids. I am looking at our new school year and praying, asking the Lord... No.  Let me be honest here, I was anxiously begging the Lord to show me how to teach my kids to live like missionaries. To love like Jesus loves.

How do I keep them from getting caught up in the consumer nature and craziness of our country? I don’t want them always "needing" more “stuff”. Isn’t “need” a funny word to us? We have stretched it and molded it to be mainly an excuse to buy what we “want”.

Finally the other day God put it to me quite simply.

 "Daughter, go and talk to them. Share your heart, your struggles, and then ask them about me."

So I did. I called my oldest children to the table and I began to share the struggles I have faced with wanting more stuff. (By the way, I think there is a reason the magazine is called “Better Homes and Gardens”. It’s because those homes are always better than mine, but I must digress.)

I shared my struggle with not wanting to give things away because I have a crazy sentimental attachment to it. They nodded their heads and my son gave me a skeptical look. His sharp young mind was whirring at a hundred miles per second trying to guess where this was headed. I then asked them,

"What did Jesus ask us to do in the Bible?”

I had my blank sheet of paper ready and a pen in hand, waiting.  There was only a moment’s pause before my 7 year old daughter started with a barrage of ideas flowing from her excited little lips. She waved her arms about and occasionally jumped up from her seat as a new thought would occur to her. 

My friends, it was a constant stream of thrilled chatter that filled the air and covered the front and back of my paper. Honestly, it was hard to keep up with them. Occasionally I had to ask my children to pause while mom finished writing. I then proudly reread the amazing list to them out loud.

I was humbled and in awe. I sat there quietly mulling over the list again. I whispered silent prayers of thanksgiving to the Lord, for their pure earnest hearts.

Here is their beautiful and humbling list. I tried to stay true to their own words as they were speaking.

 “What does Jesus ask us to do in the Bible?”

• Give stuff to people.
•  Love People!
•  Be nice.
•  Love our enemies.
• Only worship God! No other god’s before Him.
• Pray for people
• Tell people about Him, most of the time!
• Celebrate Jesus and especially at Christmas we do, but really we should every day.
• Help people! Even if they are on the other team and you are in a race. You should stop and help them!
• Give food to people
• Help the poor
• Travel to tell people about Jesus in other places.
• Follow the 10 commandments.
• Don’t leave anyone behind. Go find them if they are lost.
• Help people who are in trouble.
• Listen to our Mom and Dad.
• Be happy with what God gives us.
• Give presents to others.
• Send His message to people who don’t know Him.
• Take care of what God gives us, like our home, animals, the earth, and our things.
• He wants me to just be me. I don’t have to try to be someone else.
• Keep my promises and don’t lie.
• He always wants us to give, learn about Him, and worship Him every day!

At this point I was getting a bit teary eyed. (Note to self; I must thank our amazing Sunday School teachers at church!) I swallowed the tears back and finally asked them,

 "How can we start doing these things every day? How can we live this out?”

They sat there quietly thinking for a moment... Then once again my daughter excitedly hopped off the bench and said in her sweet sing song voice,

"Mom, let’s go through my toys and stuffed animals. I should give them away to other kids who don’t have them. Can we do it right now?"

I was in shock. Instead of the normal whine of my children

"Mom you are so meeeeaaaan! Why do I have to sort through my toys?" 

My daughter excitedly raced to the work. As we began to go through her toys, her younger sister joined in and within an hour they had 3 garbage bags full of toys to give away.

Let me tell you, these were some really nice toys too. Sadly, oh for the shame of it all friends, I had moments where I struggled with their choices. I struggled because I knew the cost or the identity of the gift giver for each item they were giving away, but then…

How could I destroy what God was clearly doing in their hearts? These precious girls even kept a few toys to the side to give to their friends because those were the toys their friends always wanted to play with when they were over. It was…

Well…

Absolutely beautiful.

I found hope that day.

I know now, I am not alone.

Like Jen Hatmaker writes in her book "Seven. An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess",

 "Jesus, for your kingdom to come, mine will have to go."

Please Lord let us not be caught up in this machine of constant consumerism again. Thank you for the freedom that comes from desiring you and your heart first!

What about you, my friends? Will you join us?

Please sign up and follow this blog with your email address. It’s absolutely free. We will just be fellow adventurers on a journey to follow Christ.

Would you like to join me in reading “Seven” by Jen Hatmaker? Please, leave me a comment or any questions that you may have about it. (Or join the women at (in)courage in the Bloom book club as they take us through the book including special interviews with the author!)

Now this is more accurate than our lovely photo at the beginning of this blog. (Please excuse the ketch-up on their faces.) Let's just be honest, our family is a goofy and fun loving bunch. ;)

Tomorrow, I will be posting updates for you on our journey with the “Free the Girls” drive. Also, I will fill you in on the next challenge that my children and I will undertake in our adventure to live the way Jesus asked us to. 
Please continue praying for the children at Compassion to find sponsors or consider becoming a blogger for Compassion.

I am praying for you today friends! Remember don’t limit God this week; He has BIG plans for each of us. Take time to praise Him and thank Him for the big and the small. He is truly amazing.

God Bless you greatly!