Living Fearlessly in 2010 – “Do I Matter?”

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” ~ Matthew 10:29-31 (ESV ~ emphasis mine)

“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” ~ Psalm 139:14 (ESV)

Did you ever wanted to be famous? I did. When I was a teenager I wanted to be a backup singer for T.Rex; I even learned all the lyrics to all their hit songs… Me, a backup singer to tour with a famous 70’s British band? Thinking back makes me giggle, because I was only 13 years old at their height of fame.

Max Lucado writes in his book “Fearless“:

“Ah, There it is. There is the question. The Amazon River out of which a thousand fears flow: do we matter? We fear we don’t. We fear nothingness, insignificance. We fear evaporation. We fear that in the last tabulation we make no contribution to the final sum. We fear coming and going and non one knowing” and “Connect to someone special and become someone special, right?”

Yes, there it is “connect to someone special…” and maybe, just maybe I can catch a little ray of their lime-light that I too would matter…

That was me when I started blogging some 5 years ago. If you look way back into my archives, I tried so hard to matter. I connected to famous woman so I too would matter in bloggy-ville. I wanted to change the world just like they did. I wanted to be heard – loud and clear. How can I archive that? Link up, hook up…

Well, God had a lesson for me on that…I truly believe that we have to be humbled before He can truly use our gifts. The word “discouragement” was often on my mind; as much so that I wanted to just quit blogging all together — “I didn’t matter”…

But God kept after me; to stay with it. I mattered to Him and His message. He reminded me that we all have different gifts. Not all can be a Beth Moore, Lysa TerKeurst, or Lisa McKay. He gives even ‘small’ people like me a voice – to share about His incredible love, devotion and grace with others.

Sweet one, you too matter to Him. Would’ve sent His only Son into a cruel world to die our death? Would Jesus go all the way up Calvary to be nailed to the cross if we would not matter? I don’t think so!

Today I link up/hook up because men and women are an inspiration to me. I no longer need their lime-light to matter – I matter to Him, and that is enough for me.

Where there times when you linked up so you could catch a lime-light ray? Please do share – it does not have to be connected with blogging; maybe in your immediate surroundings? Did you ever wish you could be like ________?

Over the next week I would like you to ponder the Cross. What does the Cross say about how much you matter to God? Come back here to share either in the comment section or write about it on your blog.

Also, if you have not read Karon’s guest blog last Monday, I would like to encourage you to read it. Karon has a marvelous message about “Fear of Change“. I will be sharing my own thoughts on change next Monday.

Thank you for stopping by today. Remember: not matter how small you think you are, you matter to Him who wonderfully created you.

Thankful Thursday ~ Opportunities

“I give thanks to you, O Lord my God,
with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.”
~ Psalm 86:12 (ESV – emphasis mine)

This month we are meeting over at my friend Lynn’s place “Spiritually Unequal Marriage”; in the month of February we are meeting a my place “Grace Alone…”.

I know I should have written out my thankful post last week, but it has been incredible tough to find time in the evenings. By the time I finally settle down my brain is complete mush; when I am tired I notice twice that English is my second language ๐Ÿ˜‰ . Tonight I still have a little brain-waves left (and hopefully my English will hold up too)…

This week I want to write about the upcoming opportunities. I really need to figure out how to turn my photography into a business. I don’t know how much longer I can deal with accounting (30 years is really enough ๐Ÿ˜† )…

Well, the first step came via an invitation by Kristen Schiffman from Exemplify. Although this is not a paying job, I thank God for the opportunity to share my photography with a bigger audience than my blogging friends. Kristen asked me to supply some of my photos for the online magazine on a regular basis – Yeah God!!!

Tomorrow (Thursday) I will meet up with a couple of friends from my former employer. I am very excited to donate my talents to Gethsemane Lutheran School (go Gators!!!!) for their annual school fundraiser. I always loved supporting this private Christian school and I pray that my donation will get a little money for their operation ๐Ÿ™‚ . I am most excited though to have lunch with some sweet ladies I can call friends. It will be fun chatting up a storm with Ann and Betty (love you ladies)…

I am so thankful that God has given me these two opportunities. I will not know where they will lead, but I trust Him, because He already knows.

I read a great quote this evening by Max Lucado (one day I will share why I like this author so much):

Hallowed be your name. We enter the chapel and beseech, โ€œBe hallowed, Lord.โ€ Do whatever it takes to be holy in my life. Take your rightful place on the throne. Exalt yourself. Magnify yourself. Glorify yourself. You be Lord, and Iโ€™ll be quiet. (taken from “The Great House of God” – emphasis mine)

What are you thankful for this week? Head on over to Lynn’s blog to share with others.

Thank you for stopping by tonight/today. Remember: you never know when God opens a door for you – take heart, step through it and trust Him for the outcome.

Fearless – Free MP3

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
~ John 16:33 (ESV)

I just wanted to pop in really quick to let you know about a free MP3 that you can download from Max Lucado’s website (download here). Max Lucado encouraged the audience to fear lessโ€ฆand trust more!

Remember: God is always with you, even when you think/feel that He does not hear you — He does. See you on January 25th with more on living fear-LESS in 2010…

Living Fearlessly – God’s Faithfulness

First I like to thank you joining me in the journey of living fearlessly in 2010 (and beyond). Second I want to announce the winner of the books “Fearless” and “Fear Not Promise Book” written by Max Lucado. Drum-roll…the winner is: Kim (comment # 5 on the original post from 01.01.2010) – Congrats Kim — I will contact you to get your snail-mail address ๐Ÿ™‚

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28 (ESV)

How can you tell a father who is facing lay-offs; a wife who’s husband left her for another woman; parents facing the death of a child, families loosing their home, chemotherapy …that everything is working out for the good? I often have a hard time comprehending what is happening. Do I question God because not everything is working out the way I think things should work out?

We all have our fears. I my personal opinion, fear in itself is not a sin, but how we handle it can send us in the wrong direction. Fear can consume us to the point that we are afraid of stepping out into life; or even worse…gambling, lying, stealing…But we don’t have to have fear consume us.

I think that we sometimes loose focus because of fear. We only see our current circumstance and don’t look at the bigger picture — the eternal picture. Take my past as an example. I feared coming to the US, leaving family and friends behind with an uncertain future (would I find work? what support would I have). Looking back though — leaving Germany was the best that could have happened to me. Removed from family and friends, God had my attention. He was waiting for me with arms wide open to put my trust in Him, not myself.

Over the next week, I would like you to look back at your past. What was the biggest step you have taken? What was your greatest fear about taken this particular step? Failure, insecurity, rejection? I would love to hear about your past fear(s) and how you have overcome it. What brought you through?

If you have a blog, please share your past with us (link below). If you don’t blog — journal and share part of your thoughts in the comment section. You can journal/blog at your own leisure; there is no deadline to answer the above questions.

Today I leave you with a quote by Max Lucado you may want to ponder:

“When fear shapes our live, safety becomes our god. When safety becomes our god, we worship the risk-free life. Can the safety-lover do anything great?…For God? For others?” ~ Source: Fearless

Living fearlessly — trusting Him with my future…