Growing Pains

My daughter is eight and right now she’s experiencing growing pains. We explain to her that growing pains are part of life and part of getting bigger and stronger.

Today as I read Romans 5:3 “and not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance;” I realized that if we approach our trials, pains, and struggles as growing pains then we can approach them with joyful expectation.

Today I choose to see my struggles as a growth spurt! Growing pains hurt, but result in change for the better. When we are faced with struggle and we hold fast in faith believing that growth is taking place we can focus on what is being accomplished not on what we are feeling. Growth may be painful but it is always good, our attitude during the growing pains is up to us! We can grumble or we can rejoice!

Unpopular Truths

I read the best illustration by John Bevere today on the dangers of not addressing sin. I will paraphrase;

“Sin is “cancer”, the church is meant to diagnose the “cancer” so we can treat it early, but churches that focus on grace alone allow someone who has “cancer” to feel confident that they aren’t really sick. This kind of teaching ignores the “cancer” in our lives, reassuring us that we are fine meanwhile the “cancer” grows out of control and eventually kills us. But addressing the “cancer” early on gives us the opportunity for immediate action to stop it in its tracks, saving our life.”

We find ourselves living in a time when truth is not popular but we need to take seriously the call to speak the truth. Some Christian churches of today are leaning more and more away from addressing sin but instead are only on focusing on grace because it is what people desire to hear. This is not the design of the church as God intended!

“Herald and preach the Word! Keep your sense of urgency [stand by, be at hand and ready], whether the opportunity seems to be favorable or unfavorable. [Whether it is convenient or inconvenient, whether it is welcome or unwelcome, you as preacher of the Word are to show people in what way their lives are wrong.] And convince them, rebuking and correcting, warning and urging and encouraging them, being unflagging and inexhaustible in patience and teaching.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭4:2‬ ‭

Speaking truth in love is how lives are saved!

The South Pacific Walk for LIFE (2018)

I want to share my journey with you from my time during the South Pacific Walk for Life......

Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

The LIFE Runners race theme for 2018 is “Be the Light” Matthew 5:14, so when we started to plan the 2nd Annual South Pacific Walk for Life we chose to continue that theme. This year we were excited and expectant! Last year had been an awakening in our prayer lives and we were ready for God to ignite us in a whole new way! The South Pacific Walk for Life is a way for Fiji LIFE Runners to take part in the A-Cross America Relay by taking on remote Relay miles and a way to engage other Christians and our community as they come to join us!

When God put the vision of this walk on my heart I never could have imagined the way He would expand it and use it to touch our community of Christians! It is not uncommon for people of the South Pacific to take on 24 hour or more in prayer vigil, but never before had we asked them to pray and walk! There is something powerful about being poured out physically while you pour your heart out to the Lord! It draws you into your desperate need for Him to be in everything! When you haven’t slept for 24 hours, when you have walked miles upon miles, when the rain comes and brings blisters, when the mosquitos eat you alive and the heat of the day tries to tackle you and yet you still continue to walk and pray you will not walk away unchanged! 

I have learned the discipline of prayer during physical activity from my hundreds of hours of marathon training. I can tell you that there is a time to hit your knees in prayer and there is a time to take a stand and march around the “Jericho’s of our lives.” The South Pacific Walk for Life helps us to spend dedicated time doing exactly this! We reached out to God for our needs, our families needs, our friends needs, and for strangers prayer requests. We prayed for an end too abortion and its destruction. We had a bucket overflowing with the requests that had been sent to us and from us. Every time you picked up a request you were giving someone else your time and attention. Praying for strangers can be powerful. I heard many prayers were answered, many people were encouraged, healed and delivered and still we will never know the impact we made. I know that God was glorified, I know that He was on that field with us!

The morning of the walk I felt I needed to pledge a marathon for the 24 hours. I would walk 26.2 miles on no sleep and I would do it with joy in my heart. I have never cut a run short. Every time I step out to run there is a distance I will reach and I never go less, sometimes I choose to go more. As day broke after walking all through the night I realized that this would be the most challenging marathon of my life. The mosquitos had eaten my legs and the blisters from wet socks had taken over my feet. The night had been amazing, the peace, the solace, the sound of praise and worship that the youth carried on for all hours of the night. I was praying over all attending the walk, I was asking God to give me direction on how to lead them, I was praying for my family and others. Watching that glorious sun break through the night was one of the most beautiful sunrises I have ever experienced. I felt drenched in Gods love.

As the morning wore on and the day crew teammates arrived, I saw new life being breathed into the group. The night crew didn’t leave, most of us that were there through the night stayed the full 24 hours. I only left for about 2 hours total to take care of Ella Mae’s needs. With half of my miles done by midmorning I realized that this 26.2 miles was going to be hard to achieve. I am a runner! It takes far more discipline to walk these kinds of distances! I could run it in 5 hours but it would push on 9 hours of walking for me to complete! I started to question if it was possible, I started to doubt my commitment. My blisters screamed at me, and my body said just run! I began to pray, asking God if I could be released from my 26.2 and if 20 miles was sufficient….The answer was no! You can finish this, don’t give up, it matters!

As I started out on my last 10k I realized that my commitment to LIFE Runners, my commitment to the ones who were walking with me and my commitment to God was one of never giving up. As I cried out to God for them, for the prayer requests and the people who surrounded me, I ran a few laps. I felt alive in spite of being exhausted, I felt God urge me forward in spite of the pain, I felt empowered to finish what I had started, to tell the devil I wasn’t going to quit, that I won’t give up because God is with me and I will never stop serving Him as He calls me! As I began to alternate running and walking laps God reaffirmed in my heart that He would call me to go great distances, and that He would give me the ability to finish. I looked around and saw that as I ran, other teammates who are also runners began running. It was the peak of the day, the absolute hottest point and we began to run. I realized that I need to lead as God calls and that others will follow. That I need to stay close to the Lord so that I know where I am to lead this team. 

As I walked again I began to have concern for those walking around me. I could see that the heat was causing struggle. I looked to the sky and prayed for rain. As I walked and prayed for rain, I realized that I only wanted rain if it served Gods purpose, so I changed my prayer and asked God for His will. It was during my praying that I could actually see the rain with my eyes even though the rain had not yet come. I knew that the rain was coming. I thanked God and pressed forward. I started on my last leg of the session just in time for God to open the heavens and pour out upon us! It was glorious an refreshing! When we stand in prayer, and we are in agreement with Gods will, we need to visually see what we are asking for! See it done in faith! Speak it done in faith!

As the day finished and my miles were done I took time to rest with the others and listen to the beautiful praise and worship. Some of our night crew returned refreshed and ready just as the deluge of rain began. My heart was completely filled as I watched them, dry and clean, step out into the pouring rain to walk their legs again! In this day and age we don’t like to be uncomfortable, we don’t like to be inconvenienced but here were people who had already done beyond their committed miles and yet they chose to be soaked in the rain and join the others walking and praying! That is what it looks like to be sold out to God. Over that 24 hours over 100 people came and showed the community that they would do anything to get closer to God, that they would face struggle, pain, exhaustion, weather, anything that came to spend that time in prayer! I have never been so touched to experience something so powerful!

As we finished Pst Kami of Nadi SPEF gave a powerful message! He and his wife truly blessed us with their testimony and the word God gave him to speak! It was exactly what we needed to hear! You would think that we were all tired, but we were ignited in The Spirit! Heaven came into that hall and we all began singing and dancing and praising! We had just spent 24 hours being poured into by our Heavenly Father and it was glorious! The testimonies came, the praise came, the day closed and we all came together on that wet, mosquito infested field and Ryan closed us in a powerful prayer. Next year are are praying for 800 to cover the South Pacific Walk for Life, we are praying for dozens of churches to attend. 

Sunday morning as I opened the Bible to start my day before church God clearly answered me. God gave me 3 scriptures, one after the other! I have been asking Him what next, how do I carry this ministry forward? Where does He want me to go. Never has an answer been more clear. I will walk in the Spirit, I will continue to walk by faith, He will take me where I need to go!

Galatians 5:16
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Colossians 2:6
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

Let us all walk in the Spirit, let us put aside the desires of the flesh and press forward into the will of God!

My Path

I realized today that since I retired my India blog many people who know me now know very little about the Karen who once was and the journey from lost to found, from broken to restored, from hopeless to being given the greatest miracle of my life.

I was a prodigal son to say the least, but God reached down to me at my most broken and pulled me into His promises and purpose!  As a pro-life missionary many may not know that God gave us our miracle through IVF, and although I understand (and support) the pro-life communities stand on IVF I also know that God used this to give us a miracle He promised.  Due to my strong held beliefs on protecting all human life, never again would we pursue IVF. Our daughter, regardless of her manner of conception was and is a miracle and her story has reached many hearts.

I do not agree with the throwing away of life that often happens in IVF but we had 6 embryos and all 6 were implanted and I would have carried all 6 had God granted me that.  Also I believe that man can put egg and sperm together but man can not create life, I believe only God can grant life into that combination.  I look forward to meeting my 5 babies in Heaven and I wish that I could have known them all in this life.  I share this to show the miraculous ways that God works in our lives, this is our journey.  This was the start of God revealing the ministry He had planned.  Before this all happened I sat on the "I wouldn't have an abortion but who am I to tell others they can't" fence.  After I carried and gave birth to my daughter I knew that all lives absolutely had to be protected!  Here are links to that time in my life....

(For some reason the links won't hyperlink so copy and paste into your browser)
The beginning:
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2008/12/life-apart.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-begining.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/02/infertility.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/03/that-which-doesn-not-kill-you.html

The Miracle revealed
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/04/oh-baby.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/06/hi-my-name-is-karen.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/07/fertility-drugs-and-mini-donkeys.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/07/surrender.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/07/so-much-on-my-mind.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/07/day-has-been-chosen.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/07/my-little-embryos.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2009/08/if-you-dont-believe-in-miracles-its.html

Her name is Ella Mae
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-our-miracle-became-reality.html
http://av8rswife.blogspot.com/2010/05/gods-perfect-gift.html

SEX! It's Time To Talk About It!

As a LIFE Runner my mission is to not only protect women from abortion but to raise up youth to know and understand their worth and the design of purity in their lives.  I believe that empowering youth with the truth is the key to protecting future generations from abortion and its destruction of family and sexuality. Protecting and empowering our children is one of the most important things we will ever do as parents. My daughter is the most important person in the world to me and I will not leave her for the world to devour by not preparing her to face the struggles of being a young woman in this changing world! It is her father and my job to teach her about purity, sex, and Gods design for her life.

My heart is so heavily burdened by the state of things today.  Our youth are facing crisis after crisis and I am sad to say that in so many ways this is a reflection of how we as parents and the church have failed them.  It’s time to bring sex out of the darkness and into the light.  It is time for parents and the church to resume their role as guides of our youth and nothing is more at stake apart from their salvation than their purity!  The world is being led one way and our faith leads us another.  We must remember that it is our job as parents to lead our children, the enemy will come for them if we are not diligent!

Our complacency as a church and as parents has allowed the wolves to infiltrate.  You see, when we were unwilling to teach our children about sex, groups like Planned Parenthood gladly stepped in.  We have failed our youth because instead of teaching them about sex, about the design of their sexuality, about the risks and dangers of pre-marital sex, about STI’s and pregnancy, about the emotional and spiritual connection to sex, we have let Planned Parenthood and other secular groups teach them HOW to have sex, how to engage in uninhibited and unlimited sex.  They have taught them that nothing is off limits, that all things are admissible, that sex is for pleasure alone without consequence.  They have disregarded that sex is NOT for everyone at any time, that have not explained that it holds emotional and physical consequences that most teens are nowhere near able to deal with.  Parents put their daughters on birth control and forget to tell them that birth control won’t protect them from any STI and that condoms and birth control both fail at protecting from pregnancy, that the only way to be certain that you won’t get pregnant or end up with an STI is to abstain.  These young girls who are far to immature to be having sex then live in a false sense of security that they are “safe” from pregnancy which is entirely untrue. More and more evidence is coming to light that HPV, which is now causing cancer in both women and men is not stopped by condoms and is a very real risk to everyone every single time they have sex with or without a condom.  Estrogen plays a key factor in breast cancer and yet we are pumping our daughters full of this hormone with birth control! Birth control will not protect our youth from the emotional consequences of teen sex.  Condoms won't protect our teens from the insecurities and heartache that arise from giving yourself to someone so intimately but not understanding the gravity of revealing such a deeply personal and vulnerable piece of who they are.  Our teenagers are not being prepared for the emotional baggage they take on when they engage in such an intimate and mature commitment that is a sexual relationship, and we need to be talking to them about these things.  

It is clear that once we are married we would all be happy to have been our spouses one and only, and of course we expect to be the only person our spouse ever has sex with again.  Its interesting to me that people don’t see this double standard.  Before marriage we want to be able to have sex with whomever we please and we do not want marriage to be required, but once married we expect sex to be exclusive to our marriage!  Why?  If sex is nothing more than a carnal act of pleasure to be had at our own leisure than it surely is not significant enough to be restrained once married.  This only proves that sex is far more than a carnal act.  You see ALL sex has consequences!  Sex outside of marriage opens you to health risks (STIs and diseases), it can cause a pregnancy that was not planned and put the child at risk for abortion, it leads to emotional sorrow when relationships end, it leads to insecurities and opens the doors to abuse.  Sex inside of marriage leads to a bonding, strengthening the relationship and the welcoming of children inside of the safety of a committed relationship.  There are no marital benefits to pre-marital sex. Sex was designed for marriage and only constrained within marriage is it safe from dangerous and painful consequences.

We have failed our youth because we have failed to believe that they are capable of making good choices, that they are so pumped full of hormones that they couldn’t possibly ever abstain, and that is how we fail them!  We don’t spend enough time affirming them and helping them to understand who they are in the LORD. The youth are able to choose to save themselves, they are able to make good choices and the right choice for their future if we will set them on a firm foundation!  Its time to teach purity, to give the youth firm reasons to wait and to encourage them to talk about the things they are facing!  If our youth cannot talk to us about sex then they will turn to other youth and most are being guided by a morally decaying world leading them into destruction!  The music they listen to, the movies and tv shows they watch, their friends and the ever changing society around them is telling them to have sex. How can a young person tell you that they are being sexually abused if they don’t understand their bodies?  How can a young person know and understand boundaries if they can’t talk to us?  How can our youth make sound choices if they can’t get answers?  We cannot remain silent anymore!

Young men are drowning in pornography that will destroy their ability to have a physically intimate relationship in the future, but we turn a blind eye as groups like Planned Parenthood push pornography and masturbation like candy to our teens.  Young girls are so insecure in who they are that they seek physical affirmation from boys and men who have no care for them outside of their own sexual needs.  These girls are hurting and lost and are being further damaged as they seek what they will never find in the beds of boys who are not mature enough to protect and respect them.  Groups like Planned Parenthood tell these girls that rough sex is good, that filming sex is good, that the sky is the limit and worth exploring, but where are these groups when the young women find themselves being shamed for their sexual exploration, for their photos ending up on the Internet?  These groups are silent, and these children are left to pick up the broken pieces!  These youth are not mature enough to say the word penis or vagina without giggling but they are being told they are mature enough for sex!  The world is digging their claws into our children and it is time for us as parents and the church to take a stand! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

Parents, take back your children!  Stop allowing the world to lead them and teach them about sex, it is our responsibility!  They need open conversation where they can tell us what they are facing and considering.  They need to be able to speak openly and honestly to us about the pressures they face, the things they desire and how to reconcile it all!  If you are raising a teen who is able to come to you and tell you that they are considering having sex then you are able to discuss with them all aspects of that decision.  If they are too scared to talk to you then they will simply seek counsel elsewhere that will most likely encourage them to have sex.  Talking about sex is not giving permission but simply being available to guide your child.  If you have a relationship with your child where they know they can talk to you about sex they will also have a place to turn if they ultimately choose sex.  They will need our loving guidance if they choose to go down that path and we need to be available to help our children in whatever they face. Many youth who have had sex desire to return to abstinence but need loving affirmation to get them back on the right path. We have got to stop treating sex like a hidden shame and start explaining its beautiful design and why God created it only for marriage!  The world is teaching one thing so we as parents and the church need to direct our youth back to what God says about all of this. Purity is possible!  Let's take the time to guide our children through this confusing time in their lives!

The Ashes of Defeat

Micah 7:8

Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.  Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

A good part of my life was spent being too scared to try anything for the fear of failure.  It was easier not to try, and so I accomplished very little.  I am nearly 40 and it makes me sad that I wasted so much time being scared to try.  When God got a hold of me that all changed!  I began taking risks, I was willing to step out in faith which meant I had to be willing to fail!

Although the fear of failure no longer stops me from trying, the fear still exists, maybe even more so because I hate the idea of letting God down.  When the fear rises, when I stumble and I fall flat on my face the devil is right there trying to keep me on the ground.  The enemy wants me shattered in defeat, too scared to try again.  The truth is that the devil has a lot to loose if I trust God and try again.  More often than not I need to be reminded that the devil is actually scared of us when we trust God, when we walk with God, when we push beyond the fear.  We are a threat to all that he has planned and if he can keep us crippled in fear then he might accomplish something, but when we step out in faith he loses every single time!  We need to remember that through the Holy Spirit we have power over the enemy and not the other way around!

Now is the time to choose to trust in the unseen, to take hold of victory!  Every failed attempt before was simply perfecting our faith, it only takes one time to succeed and we should look at every attempt as the time that success is at hand!  

Psalms 46:1

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

God is all that I need, He isn’t far away unconcerned with me, he is VERY PRESENT!  That's a powerful statement.  He isn’t just there, he is VERY much there!

Psalms 46:5

God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved; God will help her when the morning dawns.

God is with me, He is the firm foundation that cannot be moved!  His mercies are brand new each day, He does not leave us, He is with us to help us!

Psalms 46:10 

“Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Quit trying to get it done on your own!  God, the very God of all creation will help you if you will just trust Him and be still in His presence!  It’s not about us, it’s about Him and He is working it all out for His glory!  We need to stop carrying the full weight and put it down at the feet of the cross.  Victory is in the nail pierced hands and feet of Jesus, victory is at the empty tomb, victory is seated at the right hand of God, and victory is promised to those who put their faith in God alone!

I love the lyrics from the song “Resurrecting-Elevation Worship”

“In your Spirit I will rise, from the ashes of defeat

The resurrected King is resurrecting me

In Your Name I come alive to declare your victory”

I declare victory in the Name of Jesus!

Fancy Footwear

Photo credit to Grahame Stageman (used with permission)

Ephesians 6:15

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace

As a runner one of my most important pieces of gear are my shoes!  I have to wear a neutral shoe, even a slight adjustment that causes me to under or over pronate and my legs will suffer quickly!  I recently bought a new pair of shoes after my marathon, but did not take the time I needed in the shoe store to feel them out.  Even after a few weeks of running in these new shoes, which caused me to slightly under pronate, the damage stopped me in my tracks.  This piece of gear was slightly off for my body, almost unnoticeable, but that was enough to have done some damage!  The lesson was a painful one, it required rest, massage, and a lot of foam rolling to rectify and has left a weakness in my tendon that I will have to be careful of in the future. 

Just like the importance of the right footwear in my running, is the right “footwear” in our faith!  Our footwear affects our footing! Its important enough to be part of the armor of God!  The NIV says “and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”

footing;

1. a secure grip with one’s feet.

2. he basis on which something is established or operates 

fitted;

1. to be appropriate or suitable for (a situation, etc.)

2. to be of the correct size or shape for (a connection, container, etc)

readiness;

1. the state of being fully prepared for something

2. willingness to do something

The gospel of peace is THE piece of equipment that we cannot go on without!  The Word of God is what prepares us for everything we have ahead, but it's not just given, it's fitted to us, or more accurately I should say we are fitted to it!  The Word is our very foundation! If we are spending time in the Word, see how we can live according to the Word.  We begin to truly understand how are lives are to be lived and how we can walk that out in our day to day service!  No matter what we will face, no matter how we are called, the Word is our guide! If I had taken more time in the shoe store I would have noticed the problem with the shoes and if I take more time in the Word I will notice things in my life that may be off as well!  The only way to grow in faith is to get into the Word, get alone with God, seek Him and wait on Him!

Galatians 5:25

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.

With our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace we can walk by the Spirit.  This is the state of being conscious of Gods presence with us at all times.  When we are aware of His constant presence it helps us to walk in His will and to avoid sin.  We live by the Spirit through our salvation but we must choose to walk by the Spirit!  Putting on the full armor of God every day will help us to continue to serve God in the ways that He calls.

Our faith walk is an ultra marathon.  We have a long way to go, and there will be days that feel impossible and days that feel like the wind is at our back, but with God all things are possible and we need only draw near to Him to find the strength to press forward!