Moving on Up

Top Five Things on my List that Make me Happy: 

1. Jesus

2. Husband hugs

3. A great workout

4. A hot bath

5. Chocolate

You might notice that "moving" is not on that list. As an army wife, this is rather ironic. 

(Actually, I tolerate moving with the army because I am not required to pack our stuff. Otherwise, I break a lot of dishes, and require massive amounts of all of the things on my top 5 list.) 

Don't get me wrong, I love the new places and adventure of the whole experience. I just can't sit still at our new home until things are unpacked and everything is in place. It's a bit exhausting. And stressful. 

On that note... God has called me to move. 

Wait, wait, wait... I don't mean physical locations. Let's be honest. While Georgia isn't exactly my favorite of the lower 48 states, I have a wonderful hubby, house and puppy here. 

I mean move my blog. That's right. We are moving on up... Or at least over. 

So. What does this mean for you dear readers? 

First of all, don't panic. That's my job. (Just kidding. But seriously.) I ask for you to pray for me. Because technology and I are not BFFs. And I am trying to make this move on my own. I've learned more about CODEX and SEO and PHP today than I never wanted to know. 

But stay tuned the next couple of days. God has something huge planned, and I am taking a leap of faith. I am going to need your help to get this new site up, running and known by others so we can spread this awesome message of God. 

So yes, I'm moving to a different locale in cyber land. I'm changing the name. I am expanding to make this into a literal ministry movement. 

But don't worry. I won't be changing my writing style or content. You will still get plenty of sarcastic, off-the-wall, flat-out-in-love-with-Jesus messages from me. 

Are you intrigued? Well, you should be... we are moving up and making things happen. 

Walking by faith and not by sight (or blog coding,) 

SGK 

"On your way now. Get moving..." --Deuteronomy 1:7 (MSG)

Operation: Fortitude Fitness Update (Month #1)

Happy February Folks!!

Hopefully this post finds you still moving strong towards your "Getting SMART with 2012" goals... We are heading into month #2 and I'm hopeful that you are still hanging on to your goals and have not already fallen off track like a 6-year-old trying to use their dog to pull their Red Rider Wagon. 

Source Here

Anywho... As promised, I am checking back in with you, updating all of you wonderful and faithful readers on my personal progress. I don't write these things to say "LOOK AT MEEEEEE!" but rather I am using this blog as my accountability partner. It would be pretty awkward to repost each month and say "Yeah, I didn't do anything productive with the last 30 days." 

It's been a good month... (To view the original "goal" post, click here. Get it? Goalpost? It's almost the Superbowl? Ok, I'm done.) 

Here we go: 

SMART Change #1: Operation Fort-itude Fitness. 

This was obviously month number one. In short, my goal was to log 98 miles per the month via biking, swimming, running, elliptical etc to begin my "travels" from Fort Benning, GA to Fort Riley, Kansas. Also, in order to stay on track with my strength training, I needed to do 2,500 various reps per month. 

RESULT: GOAL MET!!

I started out slow on this one since the first week of January was super busy for my ministry... but the last three weeks I have really picked it up. I logged 160.5 miles!! (62.5 miles over goal) This puts me at Forestdale, Alabama on my route! (For all of you non-southern readers, that is on the northwest side of Birmingham. Glad I made it through traffic in one piece.)  As for reps, I completed 2,811. Oh... and I added a new 5K time improvement running plan to keep my running accountable. Totally thrilled with meeting this goal! 

I made it from point A to point B... Very encouraging!
Next Stop: Mississippi! 

SMART Change #2: Spend at least one hour per day in the Lord's presence by using my new Jesus Calling Devotional and studying the accompanying Scripture. I will also continue to keep a prayer request list in a notebook and/or iPad.

RESULT: GOAL MET!!

I've been faithful to this goal... and man oh MAN has it been amazing!! God has done a HUGE work on my heart so far and I have fallen head over heels deeper in love with Jesus. (Side note: Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for some new, big, and exciting ministry changes coming!) Oh, and can I mention that He has already answered 27 prayers just in this month? 

SMART Change #3: Complete my 1000 Gift List (inspired by Ann Voskamp's book) by the end of 2012.

RESULT: ON GOING

I'm not at 1000 yet, but since  my first post, I have doubled the number of gifts on my list. As of today, I am at #422. I'm swimming in a sea of gratitude. Amazing. 

SMART Change #4: Memorize a book of the Bible, starting with 1 John. 

RESULT: ON GOING

Honestly, I am really excited and pleased how this goal is going. Out of all of them, I thought this would be the most challenging. Yes, it has been challenging as the NIV84 format of 1 John is what I have now deemed the book of "excessive pronouns and prepositions." I have learned a ton and made it all the way to 1 John 2:18. Very pleased with my progress. 

SMART Change #5: Ruthlessly Eliminate Hurry and submit to God DAILY in all areas of my life. 

RESULT: ON GOING

Again, it's kind of hard to measure this goal... It's probably something I am going to have to focus on the for the rest of my life. BUT... The extra time in prayer and reliance on Him has been evident that there is work being done in my heart. 

How is 2012 shaping up for you? I would love to hear about your progress. 

Oh, and thanks so much for the support and kind words. But remember, I really didn't have much to do with this list... "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)

Stay SMART, 

SGK 

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." --Philippians 4:12-14 (MSG)

Depend on it

Last week, my supervisor (ok, more my friend than "boss") called me to a challenge. 

I needed to find a "word" for 2012. (To take Kelli's challenge, read her full post here. It's awesome. I promise. Hey, it inspired me so much I'm blogging about it!) 

Honestly, I have never found a word like that before. Sure I have had themes or big ideas for new season/years/chapters of life, but never really focused on a single thing or experience. 

So I began to pray. 

Here's the challenge for me. If I am not focused on prayer and being in God's presence, I start to think. And thinking leads to distraction. And distraction leads to focusing on whatever shiny thoughts I have in my head as opposed to what God wants to reveal to me. 

My thoughts started to flow. "Maybe it will be an exciting word like 'adventure.' Or a loving word, like 'compassion.' Or something inspirational, perhaps the word 'hope.'" 

This went on a for a few minutes until I realized I wasn't listening but rather doing this on my own... Again. Fail. <insert sigh here.>

Let's try this again. 

I sat, closed my eyes and began to pray. I thought of Kelli's challenge. I focused on the words I had read out of my devotional. I started meditating on Scripture that I had read recently.  I took a deep breath. Then BOOM. There it was.

DEPENDENCE. 

Dependence. THAT was my God-word for 2012??!? Huh. I began  to let it sink in. If this is really my word... it's going to be an interesting year. 

You might have picked up on this through my previous blogs, but I really enjoy having control of things. Which is why I struggle with letting go and letting God just do His thing in my life. I'm getting better... but apparently... 

I needed some work. 

DEPENDENCE. 

The longer I sat and let this marinate, the more excited I became. This WAS going to be a challenge... but one that I was interested in exploring. So, in my typical nerdy fashion, I grabbed my iPad and looked up "dependence" in the thesaurus. 

What I found there surprised me. 

Dependence: confidence, reliance, assurance, belief, expectation, hope, faith, stability, steadiness, trust, attachment, habit, subordination, yoke, craving, security blanket. 

Surprising, huh? Those words stood out to me... They all were some form of dependence and could certainly be applied to my 2012 journey. 

Confidence in Him. Reliance on Him. Assurance that he IS God. Belief in His faithfulness. Expectation of His promise. Hope of His plan. Faith in His love. Stability of Him in my life. Steadiness of Him to never fail me. Trust that He is with me. Attachment to God. Habit of spending time with Him. Subordination to Him. Being yoked with Him. Craving Him. He IS my security blanket. 

DEPENDENCE. 

I am slowly releasing it to Him. I will depend on Him in all things. I don't need control... I need Him. 

Yep. It is going to be a great 2012. We can DEPEND on it. 

With Expectation, 

SGK

What is YOUR word for 2012? I would love to hear it! Leave a comment here.

"My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge." --Psalm 62:7

Amazing Grace-centered Living: How Sweet the Sound!

As you might have noticed, God has been tugging on my heart A LOT lately about grace. Ironically, the following post was a discussion board prompt I submitted dealing with grace-centered vs. law-centered living and ministry last week... It has been "edited" a bit for bloggity-ness, but hope it gets your wheels a-turning! ~SGK

************************* 

“He’s still working on me… to make me what I ought to be. It took him just a week to make the moon and the stars, the Sun and the Earth and Jupiter and Mars. How loving and patient He must be… 
'Cause He's still workin' on me.”

I grew up listening to this song via cassette tape, and as I was reflecting on this prompt, I realized that my grace-based living is a direct result of God’s grace and continual work on both my heart and ministry. Don’t get me wrong—I do believe there is a place for law in this world, living by the Ten Commandments for example, but I am in no way in a position to enforce that law or judge someone because of their choices. A sin is a sin and let’s be honest, we are all pretty big ol’ sinners.

For many years I have “ unofficially” ministered people through the challenges of life by providing impromptu pep talks, support and love. As I have grown closer to Christ over time and recently realized my call to ministry, I know that grace-based living is a must for myself as a Christian. I have just started an internship at Christ Community Church under an incredible SERVE director. Part of my (future) responsibility includes presenting and coaching people to discover their Spiritual gifts. In that process we talk about “Life Experiences,” and I know I can’t judge them for what they have done or where they have been. I am not the rule enforcer. I can, however, speak the truth in love, offering guidance on the law, yet still extend to them the same grace God has so graciously given me. As it says in Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” That is powerful reassurance for my choice of grace-based living. Can I get an AMEN? 

Grace-based living has a significant impact on my relationship with God and others. Not only am I attempting to model my life after Christ (I fall short ALL the time) but I am also praying for those I am serving to extend grace to me when I make a mistake or fall into sin. Living “gracefully” opens more doors to spread the Good News. God’s grace is free and undeserved—so why should my grace on others be any different? Being a Christian isn’t about checking things off of a To Do list via laws, rules and regulations. Rather it is holding ourselves to a Christ-like standard, and embracing God’s Amazing Grace whenever we (and others) fall to sin.

One of the most positive aspects of grace-centered living focuses on my leadership expectations of others and myself. It allows me to revel in God’s grace and attempt to grasp this extraordinarily generous and vast concept. By doing so, my heart can be filled with the sincerest of passion, love and words to share with others about this free and wondrous gift that is available to them as well. Centering my life and ministry on grace boosts my credibility and relational capacity with others… we are all sinners, in the same boat, praying to have faith to walk on water towards the ultimate, heavenly, graceful judge in Jesus Christ.

So yes, He is still working on me. I am a wretch, once lost and now found, and it is all because of his amazing, remarkable, generous grace. I pray that my ministry will flow by his graceful means, extending it to others that I lead. My strength for grace-based living is said well in Galatians 2:21… “I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Daily Deliberation: In what ways has God extended Grace to you today? Do you believe you show grace to others at the desired level? How can you continue to grow your ability to extend grace?

By His Grace,

SGK

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world. but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather thing of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." -- Romans 12:2-3