Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Being more open
I've been hearing the Lord say something repeatedly to me the last couple of weeks, especially the last couple of days. I keep hearing Him say, "Be open to all of the possibilities." I'm doing my best to heed His word and really open my mind and heart to all that means, and it's been interesting. Exciting. Scary. All at the same time.I guess I've come to realize that I'm pretty narrow-minded sometimes. Which is funny, because I've always considered myself to be an open-minded person! But when it comes to my expectations of God and how He will work in my life, I am very quick to try and figure out how certain situations will play out, what God will do. I see a crisis or a situation and I think to myself (even if I don't say/pray it), "Okay, this is how this will work out. My best guess is that God will do this..." And as a result, I limit Him tremendously. It's like, in my mind, I think I already know what He's capable of, how He'll react, and then I assume the outcome. And I get so set on how something will be that I'm not mentally open to the possibilities. Do I say that I am open? Sure. But do I really think it and believe it? Not always.
Lately, as the Lord has been whispering these encouraging words to me, I've been more aware of my tendency to do this. And it's really just a control thing, on my part. And a lack of trust. I guess deep down I'm afraid that He won't come to my rescue so I calculate what ends up being a very human response to what the Divine will do. How backwards is that? The creation trying to control the Creator... I guess it's the history of man.
Either way, I don't want to be like that anymore. And I'm so thankful that my Father knows that I need gentle prodding, gradual change. And He's so loving about it. He gently reminds me of all He's capable of and says, "Daughter, you have no idea what I can do. Let me show you." And He has. As I've mentally and spiritually opened myself more to His possibilities (and stopped trying to figure things out on my own so much), He's done amazing things, almost every day really. Little miracles. It's like He's showing off. And I choose to believe that the more I open myself to Him and to all of the possibilities, the more He'll be able to accomplish in my life. The more amazing He'll prove Himself to be.
From my heart,
Weslynn at 2:37 PM
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
And the winner is...
The votes have been calculated (somewhat), and the results are in regarding my hair cut (unless I change my mind between now and June 14). A big thanks to my family and friends who offered their comments on which type of hair style would look best on me. Thanks to a very timely White House Black Market advertisement that came in the mail yesterday, I've decided on a cut that one of its models sported. I believe it's a nice combination of all of the styles I posted last week...
If you'd like to see a couple different angles of the same hair cut, check out the catalog online. They style it a few different ways, and I think it's absolutely adorable! (Scroll through the virtual pages by clicking "next" on the bottom right of the page.)Again, this is tentative. I am a woman and therefore reserve the right to change my mind. ;)
I'll most likely keep my hair the color it is now, or maybe even go a bit lighter.
Whatcha think?
From my heart,
Weslynn at 10:34 AM
Monday, May 14, 2007
Learning to trust
I noticed something really cool as I read Psalm 57 this morning. David is crying out to the Lord here, pretty much venting about the attacks he's getting on all sides from his enemies. He begins asking for the Lord's mercy in the midst of his crisis:
1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
for in you my soul takes refuge.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God, who fulfills {his purpose} for me.3 He sends from heaven and saves me,
rebuking those who hotly pursue me;
Selah
God sends his love and his faithfulness.4 I am in the midst of lions;
I lie among ravenous beasts—
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
What's interesting to me is the rest of his prayer. After he talks to the Lord about his need, he then starts praising Him:
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
Then David shares his heart concerning his dire situation a little more:
6 They spread a net for my feet—
I was bowed down in distress.
They dug a pit in my path—
but they have fallen into it themselves.
Selah
And then David starts worshipping the Lord for his goodness again, and basically tells Him, "I won't lose heart. I'm going to keep on praising you despite the madness that's going on my life right now."
7 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and make music.8 Awake, my soul!
Awake, harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.
And then David ends his prayer, his cry, with more worship to the Father. It's like he got so wrapped up in the thought of the Lord's goodness and faithfulness that He almost forgot about the crisis that was consuming his thoughts just moments earlier. How amazing.
I think David understood what it meant to surrender his problems to the Lord. He knew what it meant to not dwell on them, to not be consumed by them. He knew how to push through in worship until everything else faded away. And the cool thing is that David didn't feel the need to close His conversation with the Lord with, "Oh, and please don't forget about that stuff I was telling you about earlier." He already knew it was in the Father's hands, and he truly trusted Him.
I want to have that kind of trust in the Lord!
From my heart,
Weslynn at 8:53 AM
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Sianara, Charlie Brown!
So I've decided to cut my hair. Although I donned a shorter haircut a couple years ago, I've never really taken the plunge and chopped it all off like I've wanted to for years. When I was 16 years old, I was fascinated with the pixie cut. I admired girls who had the courage to go with such a fun and funky 'do. One day I was walking through the mall with my high school buddy Mike when I saw this girl with a cute blonde pixie cut. I said, "Ooooh, Mike, look at her hair! I'd love to cut my hair like that!" And he lovingly replied, "Wes, you couldn't pull off that haircut. You have a Charlie Brown head." As you can imagine, that memory was burned into my memory. I've been self-conscious about my face ever since then. I've always felt like I have this huge head. Lately, however, I've been looking at myself differently. I'm tired of being afraid to cut my hair like I've wanted to for -- gosh -- 12 years... simply because of something some silly teenage boy said to me back in high school!So I've been studying my face in the mirror a lot lately. Not out of vanity, but trying to see myself in a new way. I'm learning to appreciate my full, round face. And to be quite honest, I think I'm pretty! And I believe that I can pull off that pixie cut! And if I don't like it, guess what? It's hair. It grows back. I've got endless opportunities to change my style, so I'm going to take the plunge and just do it. When my hair guy (shout out to Scooter!) cuts my hair, I'm going to envision him chopping off every negative comment I've ever heard -- or spoken -- about myself and my appearance. I'm excited. I think this experience will be very liberating!
So, my friends, this is where you come in. To the left I have posted a few pics of hair cuts I like, and I'd like to hear your opinion. Post a comment and let me know which style you think would look best on me.The big day is scheduled for June 14, so I have time to decide. But I'd love to hear your thoughts in the meantime!
From my healing heart,
Weslynn at 10:17 AM
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Take-your-daughter-to-work Day
First of all, the Lord is up to some good stuff at our church. It's like every where we turn, we see His hand. He's blessing every ministry, new and exciting things are happening every day, and it's just hard to keep up with all He's been doing!
Personally, He's been blessing me by opening new doors of opportunity to do the things I love for the kingdom. I just recently finished working on one of many graphics projects for the youth department, and I'm having a blast being creative and getting more involved with church graphics. (Thanks to Careise for taking the photo of me with the Uno card I designed!)
I'm also excited to see all that's going to come of the jam sessions we (Andrew, Art, and I) have been having. We've been helping some young musicians (ages 12-16) polish their gifts, and pretty soon they will form a live worship band for our children's ministry. How cool is that?! The Lord has really been teaching me firsthand what a blessing it is to pour into other believers and help them find their place in the body. It really is better to give than to receive! I'm learning that more and more every day.
So in a nutshell, I'm just thankful for all that God is doing... in my personal life, in my family, and in my local church. There's nothing cooler than walking with my Father as He goes about His daily work! :)
From my heart,
Weslynn at 11:56 AM