Tag Archives: Obedience

Another Lesson from a Schnauzer…Trust!

ElsaBeen a while since miss Elsa got herself on a freedom jog. She really had been doing wonderfully. Oh yes, we use the ‘shock’ collar because she needs those reminders…oh that’s right, I need to come, return, stop…so I will hear “good girl!”

Winter time makes it much easier to run back to the house, after all it’s cold out there! But spring has sprung and the wildlife is definitely showing more activity around our woods. Birds tweeting, rabbits hopping about, squirrels zipping around and boy a little girl naturally gets mighty curious about all these things that have started moving about.

We were out for a walk one morning and as we were finishing up and headed toward the house, (but back in the woods) I dropped her leash and asked her to come with me (redirecting our path.) Don’t you know I forgot the shock collar remote, but thought surely she would follow. I turned around and I couldn’t see her anywhere. Why this morning, when my husband was out of town? And now I would be late for work if she doesn’t show up quickly.

Fear began to arise, she always heads toward the road, a busy highway with traffic zooming 50-60 mph with people on their way to work and school. I really began to feel dread. My mind began to show me pictures of her mangled little body on the road and the tears began to flow. This has been my fear since the first couple times she ran from us and refused to come when called, ending up across the road in the neighbor’s yard. The the other time she was up the hill lickity split on a snow slick road. Man that girl can run.

I had so hoped that being almost seven she would quit her disobedient ways, ha! But isn’t that just like we can sometimes be? Oh, we have learned it isn’t healthy, wise, or right to do a thing and yet we can turn around and do it anyway…oh the sinful ways of man. As Paul tells us in Romans 7:15-20

Romans 7.15-20

I can get so confused with all this doing and not doing and falling backward into where I do not want to be!

  • Do you ever struggle with doing what you know you shouldn’t?
  • How about knowing what you should be doing but you don’t do it?
God has me on this trusting Him thing. And it started out being one of the hardest things to for me to engage in with Father. We say we trust God all the time right? We want to believe that He has us covered and that we are held in His hand. For me, I first had to believe in His sovereignty. That was a several year journey just knowing that God does what He wants and He orchestrates and allows it all, period. I had to accept that even the tough stuff was part of His plan to grow me more like Him! This was a shift I had to make to go forward in my walk with the Lord!
Then God introduced me to a little book, “Trust Without Borders” and a blogger, Arabah Joy, who helped me to begin that process of nailing the coffin on my fears. This became an amazing God journey for such a time as this! From God moving in the heart of my prodigal son to yup, even a stubborn little Schnauzer!
Line BreakSo as my stomach began to get a bit queasy and the time was ticking away to now 45 minutes and only God knew where she was, I heard that still small voice…”You are trusting me with you prodigal son aren’t you? Will you trust me with your dog?” Smack me right upside the head He did as He whispered those words to my heart. So I asked Him to forgive me and agreed with Him in trusting He would return her unharmed.
As hard as it was I headed back to the house and prayed for her to come home and then thanked Father for speaking to my heart in my hour of stress. Philippians 4:6,7 is definitely my mantra (which I seemed to forget in my panic!) so I continued with the familiar “Be anxious for nothing…” as I returned to the house to get ready for work.
As I was prepping for work I just kept saying Lord, I do trust you and I believe you have this all under control! Pretty soon I heard my mom (who lives with us) enter talking to someone. I went to see here usher in the panting Elsa! I of course was flooded with relief, scolded her and promptly took her down to her crate where she stayed secluded and alone till I came home for lunch.
Line BreakYou know, I have to admit that this trust thing can really get difficult, but I know that it is the right attitude I must have to proceed. Think about your most favorite true friend, could be husband, friend, parent, you know the person who you admire and look up to the most. Were you to look at that person and say “I don’t trust you” and then proceeded to behave as though you didn’t, how on earth would they feel and how would that affect your relationship? I think you are getting it!
How hurt is our God…the one who loves us beyond imagination only wanting His very best for us…when we say mostly by our actions that we don’t trust Him?
Well, as I shift my thinking about what it really means to trust the Lord, He has taken the liberty to test me and I am now okay with this. After all this is the God I promote. I let others know I trust Him and desire to obey Him and by so doing believe that He has my held in His hands and that only His best will come forth from each circumstance He takes me through. I will be able to walk into any situation and know that as I lean hard into all I know about Him, He will see me through the cancer, divorce, the financial collapse or loss of a loved one. I can trust my Abba Father!
Where are you at with trusting God?
Do you need to raise the bar on your trust level and really put in to practice what you believe about Him? Or will you waltz your way back into fear with all the reasons not to trust Him? Click To Tweet Let me just put it this way…put Him to the test friend, you will never be disappointed, ever!
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God’s Divine Appointments!

I was involved in the Bible Study, “Battlefield of the Mind” by Joyce Meyer and we had an assignment to respond in obedience to the nudging of the Holy Spirit–in other words, to act upon the promptings we can get that may seem a little ‘out there’.  You may have had those promptings like I have and you may have received incredible blessings from being obedient to the call.  However, I have also sometimes ignored them and not responded to that nudging with the justification that “I can’t do that” or “What would that person think if I did that.”

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-tattered-background-image9202084When I sing “Here I am to Worship…,” I know that to worship God is to revere, adore and acknowledge Him for who He is.  But there is also another part of worship that encompasses what we do with our life on the horizontal plane.  My mantra continues to be “Love God and love others” but I need help with all that entails.  I do not necessarily need to round up the troops to head over to India to be on the mission field.  That could be the call to some but I have a mission field right here in my own backyard.  Wherever I am and whatever I am doing provides an opportunity to make a difference in my “sphere of influence”.  However, I want to take this to another extreme only because every time I have let an opportunity go by without sharing the gospel when the door was planted and opened right in front of me, I knew that I blew it!  I felt such disappointment with myself and had to ask the Lord to forgive me for cowering away from such a prime moment.  I am reminded in the book of Esther when Uncle Mordecai admonished Esther that if she did not respond in obedience to the call placed upon her to confront the evil plot against the Jews God would raise up someone else to do the job! And, Esther herself might perish with the rest of the Jewish people that she had been called to rescue.  Strong words! Well, Esther did heed the warning, asking the people to fast and pray for her opportunity to go before the king.  It was her obedience that saved a nation!

On a recent return trip to Minnesota with my daughter, we did not have a direct flight and I was grateful that we could just be casual about the extra hours of waiting and flying without having to run to catch our last leg of the trip.  We finally boarded in Dallas and, since I fly a little bit more often than she, I gave her the opportunity to sit by the window before I sat down.  The isle seat remained open until the gentleman in the row ahead of us (after helping my daughter stow her carry on) was booted out of his seat because he mistakenly read his seat number when someone came to claim the seat he was in him in our row.  He was a quiet man who busied himself with reading the newspaper.  I waited until after he had read his paper, because there is nothing more annoying than being interrupted by someone asking you questions when you are reading!  Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a rather large ring on his hand which I soon discovered had Vikings imprinted on it.  Hmm…and, of course, I got my daughter to notice without too much fuss.

We began our conversation by my asking about cab service out of the Minneapolis airport.  I have never needed to take a cab before, but our Monday return had our friends working and unable to pick us up and take us to our car.  I will spare you the details of a two hour conversation, but I have continued to thank God for opening up a door to share a message of hope to a man who had some stuff going on in his life from serious physical issues, a pending divorce and some personal stuff he was trying to work through.  I was able to share Scripture with him because I could sense some uncertainty about his future.  Philippians 4:6,7 is certainly where I go camping when things look obscure, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; then the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus.”  I also encouraged a relational walk with Jesus.  He seemed like so many of us who find ourselves at the end of our rope with no way of turning things around and wondering what the point is in going on!

I have since prayed for this man, his health and marriage and I can only thank God for the fulfillment of this Scripture in 1 Peter 3:15 “…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” Peter makes it very clear to me!  Now, on to my next assignment. So simple; just take the step of obedience instead of wondering if you should because God has already paved the way!

Unashamed of You

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What Will You do for Mom?

Momma and her girls 2009

My little mother (she is only five feet tall to my five foot eight) reminds me frequently of how she picked my name. My given name is Kimberly. Apparently my father was not too convinced, but mom hung in there. Being a bit of a trend setter in her day, she always did things a bit out of the ordinary. I would call her creative. I am not so sure that I understand being named after a diamond mine in South Africa but…far be it from me to argue with the one who fought hard to give me that name. (After all, it is better than Kimberly Clark, the Kleenex manufacturer.)

At fifteen years of age, I ran away from home for the second and final time. I needed an alias to go by, so I gave myself the name of Dawn. I liked it because of the beautiful morning sky. Since then I have used Dawn as my first name. When finally reunited with my mom after three years, my mother was not very happy to find out that I had changed my name but had to resign herself to the fact I was now Dawn. I have a couple of those Biblical name cards and the one for Dawn says “The Break of Day” and has the Scripture from Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.” (which I love.) Mom, on the other hand, loved to tell people (when I would introduce her), “Her real name is Kimberly!” That really used to bug me something fierce.

I have watched my mother climb into her 80’s and struggle with her health since her late 70’s, and I began to asked the Lord to show me what part I could play in her coming to Christ and have peace in her heart (after all, I pray diligently for her salvation.)  The Lord spoke to my heart a couple of years back and said to just love, serve and bless her. Okay, Lord, show me how because You know how strong willed and independent this little woman is. Unfortunately, as she is aging she is also losing her vision from macular degeneration and because of that she has been forced to give up much of her independence. For those of you who know what I’m talking about, that can be very trying for the one going through it and some other issues that are a bit humiliating for her to contend with. Hey, life can get difficult as we age! 

One summer (mom tries to stays with us in the summer months when she is feeling well enough) on the first day she was here she injured her leg exercising her “I don’t need any help” attitude. She fell off a counter and gouged her leg up terribly and we ended up in the ER. This became a very unique opportunity for me to do ‘hands on’ care for ‘Miss Independent’. I had to change her dressing twice a day throughout most of the summer. It took four months for this wound to heal! But, in the process, I was able to care for her tenderly with that thing we all love and that is human touch. At one point I even asked her if I could anoint her with oil and pray for her healing and amazingly she said yes! When I was done, she had tears in her eyes and could not explain why. God is indeed up to something, don’t you think? 

It was fall and my program was beginning it’s fifth year and I like to do something new each new year to keep things fresh. So I asked the guys what they would think if I changed my on air name to Kimberly Dawn. (It was such a God thing that I would even go there.)  They liked the newness of it and said go for it. This was a real blessing to my mom and she periodically asks if I am still going by that name and I am always so pleased to tell her “Of course!” The funny thing is that I am actually enjoying being called by that name, as well, although I do not expect those that only know me as Dawn to change how they address me unless they want to. A little side note – my boss and former boss always teased me by calling me Kimberly Dawn now and again. Here is what Kimberly means – “From the Royal Meadow.” Nice, huh? And the Scripture is also delightful from Psalm 119:73 (NASB) “Your hands made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.” I just know this is softening my mom’s heart and I am believing that God is making a way into her heart where there seems to be no way! 

Please pray with me that God will continue to show me ways that I can be Jesus to her and that she will come to know the One Who will never leave her or forsake her and Who will love her with His everlasting love. I am believing the Holy Spirit is wooing her and that it will not be long now for her to take her rightful place in God’s Kingdom. And I thank God for bringing me to a place where I would want to be obedient even to the point of going back to a name I did not care for!

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Are You Walking in Fear of Faith?

So what is it that motivates you? There is something within each one of us that keeps us going, keeps us taking one step forward and another step after that one. I am speaking specifically of our Christian journey here on this terrestrial ball. Our walk is something we either just do without much thought given to it or it is proactive and spurned onward from the motivation of either fear or faith. 

The basics are the daily routine we find ourselves in with its nuts and bolts of dealing with everyday life. Our family, job and those unexpected interruptions (negative or positive) that we may just cruise through. But that can be so mundane. I don’t know about you but I want more! I want more of God, His power, love, experience and His blessings to accompany me while on the journey. 

I like this verse in Proverbs 16:9 “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.” Oh how we can get in the way of His will for our lives! You see, it could be that He has planted something within you that could potentially rock your world and raise the bar of excitement and fulfillment as you walk out His plan for you. Then along comes an anchor of doubt that will try to rob you of the joy of the journey. 

I am so afraid that…

It scares me to even think of going there…

But what if I fail and can’t do it…

What will people say if I do that… 

It seems to me that more often than not, we move forward dragging an anchor of fear instead of allowing faith to ignite our passion and propel us forward into that to which God has called us. We shrink back in fear and stay quite comfortable in our complacency! I know, I have done it myself and then I look back and wonder what could have been had I gone forward with that certain dream or vision. 

God’s word tells us that “…without FAITH it is impossible to please God”. Yet time and time again I make the choice to opt out because of the risks involved. I truly believe that we know when the Lord confirms in our heart a particular direction to take and how sad it is when the excuses come and we do not proceed. We miss out on the blessings and possibly the blessings intended for others by playing it safe. 

We all (Christian or non) go about our day with a certain measure of certainty that as we enter our cars to go where needed that the vehicle will get us to our destination, I am not talking about that kind of faith. What I am addressing is the kind found in Hebrews 11:1: 

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

Could it be that God has laid something on your heart that seems a bit out of the box for you to undertake? Has he called you to a mission trip or to lead a small group, sing in the choir, start a new business venture or home school your children? These all have the potential to make some of us shake in our boots don’t they! But if you want to walk in obedience you need to get out of your comfort zone and act upon that calling. Even if you cannot see the finished product or end of the journey! He just calls us to action, to put one foot in front of the other as we lean into Him for direction! 

God has given me some dreams and confirmed some things that seemed rather ‘scary’ for me to Dawn_Speaking undertake. Like being willing to share my story and love for Him with others whether it is in written form, at a speaking engagement or on the air.  As God has confirmed in me to write my story out immediately my thoughts were who cares you and your story? That is a lot of time and energy expended for something nobody would be interested in reading. But after the confirmation was settled in me I knew that I was not to worry about who or if anyone would read it, I was just to begin the process of writing my life story. God knows what will happen with it and I am to act, not shrink back and decline His request. My part is to trust in what Hebrews 11:1 tells me, even if I can’t see or visualize the outcome. 

Are you one of those folks who needs to have your “ducks in a row” before you proceed? Some would argue that you would be taking precautions and securing your venture before moving forward. Please, I am not talking about being foolish throwing caution to the wind. I am talking about the calling upon you that keeps nagging at the back of your mind and you can’t seem to let it go. Then someone says something or a thing happens that really just settles in your mind that yes, you are to move forward. Your next step is to put one foot in front of the next even if you cannot see exactly where you are headed. 

kdheadphonescloseup Thinking back to when I was first asked if I would be     interested in working part-time at the Christian radio  station, I walked into the control room and looked at all the stuff (equipment) on the walls and said uh, I don’t think so! I wasn’t trained in radio. I didn’t have a clue regarding electronic stuff and there were eight knobs on that control board that completely ‘scared me’ to think of having to operate. I agreed to pray about it and willingly said, “God, if You want me to do this then I trust You will guide me through the process of learning how.”  I didn’t go off to broadcasting school or take a class in electronics but I did willingly say yes. Just about 20 years later I am still in radio and some amazing doors of opportunity have opened as a result of saying yes to God. 

Now, what about you? Let me encourage you not to miss out on the blessing of walking in obedience and allowing God to use You for His glory. Think of it as sowing into God’s kingdom. 

Father, I am so excited to be serving You in several of the ways that You have called me to serve. I am even pumped to see what You have in store for the next 20 years. I ask that You would keep me from complacency and the fleshly desire to take the easy way out instead of trusting You to lead me into Your way of everlasting! Everlasting joy and fulfillment knowing that I am in Your will, being used by You to introduce You to those who don’t know who You are and encouraging those who know You to walk in the abundant life You have for them. Let me keep pressing on till Jesus returns, in Your name, Amen.

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