Transformation Tuesday: A Picture of Surrender

I get a little emotional looking at these photos that were both taken RIGHT before our 2nd and 3rd deployments. I changed so much between these two distinct times in my life- as a woman and a wife.

Let me take you back to November of 2012, to the photo on the left. I was barely 22, Nate was newly 30. We had been married a little over two years and had spent probably close to 11+ months of it apart. I was working in a position that was I wasn't passionate about, felt like I had no clue about what I would do with my life long-term, was TOTALLY insecure about my body that was about 20 pounds heavier than it is now, frustrated in my marriage because of our inconsistencies in communication/arguments about family, stressed about finances & really just didn't feel like myself. There, OF COURSE, were lots of happy moments sprinkled in here and there, but it was certainly a time during which I felt very insecure. I can tell you for certain that the majority of our issues came from a lack of surrender to the Lord and poor priorities.

Flash forward to November of 2014. I'm 24, Nate is 32. We're married a little over 4 years and still by no means marital experts. By GOD was working in our lives.. both together and separately. We were involved in our church, we were making steps towards healthier relationships, we established boundaries with our families, we had clear financial vision for our future, I found one of my PASSIONS by joining Beachbody, I created a healthy lifestyle and got my sexy back losing 3 pant sizes, I felt more confident intimately with my husband-- I felt renewed. We still weren't communication experts, in fact we had a small argument on the way to take those photos (HA- keeping it real),  BUT we were LEARNING how to resolve things quickly and that pursuing peace was better than being right.

Each year, we face new challenges.. I'm actually writing this blog now as a BALL of stress while having to remind myself to trust in the Lord's faithfulness. And each year, we have more triumphs. Our marriage is such a joy in my life- it CHALLENGES me to be a kinder person, a more forgiving partner, a stronger woman, a more compassionate friend, an increasingly faithful christian.. always learning, growing and changing. 

My #transformationtuesday isn't because of anything Nate or I were able to do solely on our own. It's because we finally trusted Jesus with our wants, needs and desires. We submitted to His will and surrendered ourselves to be used according to His purpose. 

You will find the most beautiful transformation when you ask Jesus to lead you.

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

Freedom:: My Life by Design

I am 24 years old & working from home.. there are nine words that I never thought I'd put together.

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As our we develop as individuals and form our lifestyles, the visions we have for ourselves are constantly changing. A handful of years ago, I was convinced that a bachelors degree from the University of Florida was the only option for me after high school. Now, as a 24 year old military wife with two fur babies and a half finished college degree, my vision couldn't be any different.

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For the past few years, I don't REALLY think I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life.. so I accepted whatever came my way and made the best of it. After nannying for a year or so, I started working at a dental office that I stayed at for nearly 4 years. As much as I grew in this position as a young adult, we all know that working an administrative job can cause you to become locked into the confines of business hours and vacation time; these factors, in my life personally, began to dictate the already limited time I had to spend with a hubby who is in and out the door constantly from work-ups, training and deployments. It would have been "easy" to do nothing and adjust accordingly.. that's what we're "supposed" to do, right? My heart wasn't satisfied, I felt like God wanted more for me, and I began to ponder last summer how I could potentially work for myself one day.

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In August of 2014, I found out about the opportunity to become a Team Beachbody Coach. I know now that I didn't fully recognize the potential of "coaching", but saw how entrepreneurship was literally changing the course of people's lives and decided I had nothing to lose. I began the process of owning my own business as a health and fitness coach, with absolutely no experience, but was fueled by the desire to improve my own life and the lives of others. I worked at the dental office during the day, and spent my evenings at home on my computer for several hours creating the beginnings of my organization. I lost out on some time with my hubby before he left for Africa in the fall, but maintained my LONG term vision for my life that was developing:: freedom. Freedom of time and resources. The desire to create a MOBILE business that would COMPLIMENT my life, rather than dictating how I live.

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After nine months of working both jobs through holidays, deployments, travel, etc., I was able to come HOME just last week to work MY business full time. Maybe it's a little bit of a risk coming home this soon before my income is considered to be significant, but real success REQUIRES a little risk and a lot of sacrifice. I am NO expert in owning/operating my own business. I learn something new, often though error, on a weekly or even daily basis. I'm willing to pick myself up through failures in order to create a life by my own design. A life that will allow Nate and I to one day be debt free. A life that will provide my husband the choice of whether or not he WANTS to finish his career in the Navy. A life that allows me to be present with my kids one day. A life that is CENTERED around giving back to God what is His and being a vessel of BLESSING for others.

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Less than a year into my business, I KNOW this is just the beginning for me. BUT, I already have so much to celebrate. Freedom looks a little different for everyone. For me TODAY freedom looks like being able to work on the go when you're traveling with your family to DC for a weekend away. It looks like being a (fur) mom that is able to do more with my little ones on a daily basis. It looks like paying off DEBT- a little bit at a time. It looks like being able to use our resources to bless a family member in need. Ultimately, at this EXACT moment in my life, freedom looks like being able to pick up my husband from deployment without having to stress about it being on a weekday that I would have to coordinate with work. It looks like spending time off to reconnect after 7 months and not stress about using vacation time, because I am in charge of MY schedule.

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You don't have to want to come home and quit your day job or career... You just have to want something, a job you don't dread walking into//avoiding a daily commute//endless opportunity for advancement or income//mobile business//the chance to be proud of what you do//an opportunity to change the lives of people around you, bad enough to work HARD and make sacrifices now for LONG term success.

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One of my deepest desires it to help people, men and women of various life circumstances, have the same opportunity or greater than I have had. I have been blessed to join a top TEN team ((out of 300,000+)) and have access to vital resources from incredible leaders. I would LOVE to share this with you, IF this business is the right fit for you and/or your family. This is a company with serious integrity that is empowering people like you and me accomplish BIG personal goals by crushing self-doubt and limitations. I am proud and honored to be a Beachbody coach. I am determined to serve others while honoring the Lord. And I am COMMITTED to creating a life by design for my family.

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To God be ALL the Glory!

Marriage: Happy or Holy ?

My Sunday morning life group is dedicated to the growth of married couples. It's been a place that I have been both humbled, inspired, challenged and grown.. both on a personal level as an individual & as a partner/wife in my marriage.

Joining the life group a few months ago, I caught myself thinking that I may not be challenged enough in an environment of nearly and newly-weds (because I have a *cough* whopping 4.5 years under my belt). I also caught myself thinking that maybe I shouldn't be going to a biblestudy for married couples when my husband was literally about to walk out the door for a seven month deployment... I mean, wasn't this for couples?

Let me answer this: no & no... definitely not.

I was quickly humbled as I was gently reminded that you never reach an ultimate destination in your marriage. You never reach a place of "happiness" where you are automatically graduated into a class of marriage experts. Our marriage is about a journey- INCLUDING the ups and downs. Our marriage is about HOLINESS. Happiness is a temporary state.. do we really want our marriages to be centered around a temporary state of emotion? I sure don't.. What a calling and challenge it is to view your marriage an opportunity to glorify the One who created you.. the One who brought the path of you and your spouse together. Now THAT is a purpose.

When we're at our best, our words, thoughts and actions should be glorifying the Lord. When we're at our worst, our words, thoughts and actions are a reflection of God's faithful love and forgiveness. Even during the difficult times, God is glorified when we seek Him through the process of being reconciled to one another. He can be glorified at all times.. the good, the bad and the ugly.

We strive for holiness not happiness when we begin to fulfill our God given roles in marriage. As we individually begin to act in obedient response to our biblical calling as a spouse, God is glorified and will bless your marriage beyond measure. Be the spouse you are commanded to be, not out of the expectation that your spouse will "fall in line," but rather that God will find favor on you as you honor Him with a holy heart. Even if you are a PERFECT partner in your marriage, but are doing it so that your spouse will feel obligated to do his or her own part, you STILL have some work to do on your heart, my friend.

A couple of weeks ago, my life group was studying our biblical responsibilities through the text of Ephesians 5:22-27.

"22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless."

 Boy do people freak out when they read the words "submit" and "head of" in Ephesians; I can admit that I myself have harbored negative feelings towards this text in the past.

I realized though through the study of these verses that the challenging call here is to husbands.. Submission may seem like quite the daunting task, but God ordained leadership is a HEAVY responsibility. Let me share with you some of the notes I took from my class that day that really spoke to my spirit.

Let's first define these two concepts by their synonyms given by merriam-webster:

submission: yielding, surrender, resignation, defeat, subjection, compliance

gosh.. no wonder it seems terrible!.. we'll come back to this.

leadership: control, management, supervision, supremacy, power

Okay, so reading these and making application to the verses above is ROUGH. If that's what Godly marriage is all about, who would want it? Fortunately, merriam webster doesn't define our marital roles.. God does. And when we think about how He compares the dynamic between a husband and wife to Christ and the church, it is clear that there is another definition of our roles.

Let's re-define these two concepts by their synonyms given by God through-out scripture:

Godly submission: humility, meekness, obedience, trust, acceptance, yielding

Godly leadership: guidance, teaching, gentle instruction, responsibility, initiative, accountability, SERVICE.

Did I just use service as a synonym of leadership? I sure did. God commands those in leadership to serve others rather than reign over them.

Mark 10:42-45

42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This is a beautiful picture when both husband and wife are acting according to God's will in marriage.

You might be thinking to yourself: well, I am a believer, but my spouse is not.. am I still supposed to submit to his leadership? Yes. Although it will not be easy, live our your calling as a Godly spouse and let God take care of the rest. It is not our job to change the heart of others. It is our job to display the love of Christ through our actions. Trust in God's sovereignty and place the heart of your spouse to the Lord.

Here are my thoughts on this text:

Christ manifested His love for us by sacrificing Himself. He led by example and through service. He was a humbled teacher and rebuked those who were wrong gently. Christ made Himself accountable for our sins as a way to reconcile us to God. Christ lead in a way that others submitted to Him willingly and not out of obligation or coercion. Husbands are ultimately responsible to "cleanse her with the knowledge of the Word."  As a godly husband and follower of Christ, if your wife is not submitting to your leadership, you are not loving her properly. Start with loving service and you will earn a leadership role in her heart.

The church submits to the Lord out of love and affection. We, the church, submit though trust, service, and respect.  Submission is hard under improper leadership, but it is our calling. Ask God to give you a heart of submission. Godly wives: trust your husband, support him and treat him with respect.

Regularly evaluate if you marriage is "measuring up" to the model of Christ and the church.

Righteousness > Being Right

Don't submit for leadership..

Don't lead for submission..

Act in obedience and glorify the Lord. Living this way provides a life of purpose.

Seek holiness in your marriage. You'll be amazed to see that happiness will follow you in your journey.

Blessings, Lindsey

Broken Bread and Poured Out Wine: a life of sacrifice and stewardship

During my quite time of devotion and biblestudy, I have felt the Lord speaking to me overwhelmingly on my life being a reflection of "broken bread and poured out wine."

It seems that no matter what the subject of my study is lately, it all comes back to this concept. So what does broken bread and poured out wine even mean? ...

One of the most celebrated observances in the history of Christian faith is called "Passover." During the Passover, Christians were to partake a meal, not simply out of ceremonial obligation or religious recognition, but out of a desire to acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice of our Savior.

In Matthew 26 or Mark 14, you can read that Jesus actually partook in this meal with His disciples the night of His betrayal, leading ultimately to His death on the cross as documented in scripture. During New Testament times, the Passover commemorated the death of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice and atonement for our sins. The meal consisted of broken bread and poured out wine; these two elements represented Jesus' broken body and His life blood offering as a new covenant.

During Old Testament times, before the coming of Jesus, Christians had to regularly make living sacrifices with their finest live stock as an atonement for their sins [Exodus 12, along with other references]. These sacrificial animals, seen as something being without blemish, were put to death as a offering to the Lord because of sin-filled lives.

When God decided to send Jesus, he sent Him into the world as a perfect lamb.. a blemish-free sacrifice that would take on ALL of the disgusting, shameful sins of men- past, present and future. By Jesus being broken and poured out before the father, He essentially paid the ultimate price that would cleanse us from our sins so we could be reconciled into relationship with our perfect heavenly Father.  A free relationship providing an eternal life of forgiveness and love for ALL who chose to accept it. That was it.. His one-time sacrifice became a new covenant.

Wow, right?

His Body like broken bread for us.

His blood like poured out wine.

Out of no selfish motive. With no cost of repayment. With no strings attached. With no risk of loss. 

Eternal life. That simple. Because Jesus, sent to earth as a man and yet still fully God, was sacrificed on our behalf.. willingly.

This blows my mind. Do we sacrifice anything in our life without an expectation of return? Without strings attached or any selfish/ulterior motives? No. Because we are not perfect. We might be good people, but our hearts are flawed and tainted by sin.

Even though I have requested and accepted God's forgiveness of my short comings and have entered into the development of a personal relationship with my heavenly father, I do NOT always live in reflection of this on a daily basis.

Not our of choice, but imperfect human nature. If I lived a perfect life, what would my need for Jesus be? But boy do I need Jesus. Because of my relationship with Him, I know that my soul will spend eternity in the glorious presence of the Lord.

My job as a Christian though is the concept of "paying it forward" on earth. Using my life as a living sacrifice that bring honor to the one who saved me. To use my daily breath and actions as broken bread and poured out wine to serve God's purpose..

The life I am living is no longer my own.. Although it truly never was mine, it is now surrendered willingly to Him. God allows me to be a steward of the life He has given me to live.. a GOOD steward. Stewardship is the concept of caring for the property of another. Caring for my body, my mind, my spirit.

If God truly is the master and creator of all, then He "owns" so much more than our bodies and has ultimately given us ALL of our blessings. You may work hard for your successes, but you would have never been placed in your current circumstances (body, marriage, etc) if God didn't allow it. Therefore, delight in what He has given you stewardship over, but remember to honor Him through all aspects of your life.

Life your life as broken bread and poured out wine. Make a regular effort to reflect selflessness and submission. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His love for you will endure FOREVER.

More to come later, but let this simmer..

In love and humility,

Linz

[[for more on the passover symbols of bread and wine, check out this link. great read!]]