All I have to say is WOW! After my last post, I received such mixed responses! I was surprised at the discomfort people felt about my little challenge:) Please understand friends that it is not I who is challenging you. The Holy Spirit is so faithful to guide you in what YOU need to do! My journey and walk is not yours, so blaze your own trail sisters!!
Our Summer Lunch and Play is in full effect in our neighborhood! It begins on Monday the 15th. I certainly have mixed emotions about it as it will be a lot of work and planning. This is a real challenge for me to submit to Christ and trust that He has something MUCH bigger in mind than just a fun lunch and play time for kids:) I want to thank all of you for your prayers and encouragement as I am on this journey to spread the Aroma of Christ through the beautiful city of Portland!
I wanted to share what a friend of mine is doing in Ventura, Cali! After reading the post and praying God gave her the specific details to the vision that had already been on her heart. My dear friend Fawn had already had a burden on her heart to spread the Aroma of Christ in her new city of Ventura. God was so faithful to reveal a clear vision to her just days before she delivered her 4th baby! Fawn is an incredible wife, mother, and friend with a desire to see lives changed through the love of the Savior. However, with 4 kids 5 and under....she is limited!! So, God put on her heart to minister to other nursing moms. While nursing is one of the most special times between a baby and a mommy, it can also be extremely stressful. There is exhaustion, emotions, hormones....not to mention all of the discomfort that can come along with the miracle:) So, Fawn's heart is to meet with other nursing moms and their babes one night a week and share and pray! I was so encouraged by this and her desire to make the time in such a busy season of life to reach her city and spread the Aroma of Christ!
So, my friends, I encourage you to continue to pray and listen to the Holy Spirit and be challenged to spread the sweet Aroma of Christ in your city!! Don't forget to message me or comment with what God has put on your heart....it's a great way to inspire others!
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma."
xoxo
~Meg
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Aroma Project
Many of those close to me know that God put "Aroma" into my heart a couple of years ago. Now I KNOW it was God, because the stupid devil has been trying to stop me ever since. I have been through more life challenges in the last couple of years than I ever thought possible. As I begin my journey back up from the pit I fell in, God has once again put "Aroma" in my heart. I simply cannot ignore anymore the burning desire within me to share the "Aroma" of my Savior in my city.
What is "Aroma"? Well, it can be sweet, smelly, potent, pleasant, rancid, beautiful.....it can and is many things. When I look around at the beautiful city of Portland, I see a lot of different aromas being spread. The devil loves the aroma of a bad attitude or an angry checker at the cash register. I'm pretty sure checkers are especially attacked because they affect so many people! It's amazing how coming across one cranky person can ruin your whole day. But as followers of Jesus, we CAN'T let that happen! We are given the tools to walk in the joy of the Lord, so why aren't we skipping, clapping, and singing all the time??!! :) Simply put, we allow ourselves to be affected by negative thoughts and we fall right into the trap of the enemy who is prowling and lurking to steal, kill, and destroy! If we are not renewing our mind in Christ and making choices to glorify Him, we are not living to our full potential.
I am writing this from a place of humility as I have not been glorifying my God with my choices. We all fall into "ruts" of negativity or complacency. Then we cry out to God when things get tuff! We know what we need to do. We know the choices we need to make! So why don't we just do them?? The devil LOVES getting us into "ruts". They can be SO darn hard to get out of!! BUT we serve a God who is BIG and has already won! We are already victorious....we just have to LIVE like it! Our time on earth is just a breath in eternity. Why are we squandering it away on time wasting activities??
I am honored to have women in my life who live out the calling God has given them. These women are mentors to me and even just a 10 min phone conversation fills me with encouragement. After speaking to my Aunt Debbie the other day, I was SO encouraged! She is DONE being complacent! She is living her life to the fullest extent and is "about her Father's business" as she put it. I LOVED how she said that. When did we all stop trusting God for our everyday little things and decide He wasn't capable of handling them? When the people of Acts sold everything and were "about their Father's business", did they all starve?? NO!!! They saw a movement of the Holy Spirit that nobody had ever seen before! I believe that we are all challenged to live an "acts" life. The Holy Spirit has been challenging me and I encourage all of you to pray and....get ready for it.....OBEY! Praying can be the easy part, but obeying is more of a challenge.
How I'm obeying: The Holy Spirit put it on my heart to share the Aroma of Jesus with my neighbors. This is NOT easy for me as I would much rather spend my time with the friends I love. It's easy to love the people you have chosen to be in your life! It is a much different story to love the people that you didn't chose to be in your life. Imagine what a difference you could make. Putting flowers in a jar on a front porch with a note that says "You are Loved". It gives me Holy Ghost chills just thinking about all of the ways we could spread the sweet Aroma of our Savior in our city!!
After a lot of prayer, God put it on my heart to do a "Summer Lunch and Play" in my neighborhood. Initially I got excited thinking of all of my friends I was going to invite....then the Holy Spirit gently reminded me of my neighbors:) So, sorry friends....you are not invited to this one! I will be taking a week in August to hold a little summer camp for all the kids on our street. We have about 30 houses, so this could be big:) I will be hosting everyone for activities and lunch that week. This is REALLY stretching me as I haven't made time to get to know my new neighbors and have enjoyed locking myself in my home with my kids:) However, nobody is introduced to the sweet aroma of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when we are closed in to our safe home with those we love.
So, you are officially being challenged!! Turn to Acts in your Bible....Pray and seek the Lord....Listen to what He is saying to you....OBEY HIM! Together we can unleash a movement of the Holy Spirit our city has never seen before!
Please send a copy of this blog to all your friends and family of the Lord. The Aroma Project challenge for the next 3 months is to influence your neighborhood and sphere of influence close to your home. Please email me with what God has put on your heart and pictures after you do it. We can create a community of believers who are TRULY making a difference in our city!
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma
Love you dear friends and thank you for the amazing support you've been in my life and my family the past couple years:) ~Meg
What is "Aroma"? Well, it can be sweet, smelly, potent, pleasant, rancid, beautiful.....it can and is many things. When I look around at the beautiful city of Portland, I see a lot of different aromas being spread. The devil loves the aroma of a bad attitude or an angry checker at the cash register. I'm pretty sure checkers are especially attacked because they affect so many people! It's amazing how coming across one cranky person can ruin your whole day. But as followers of Jesus, we CAN'T let that happen! We are given the tools to walk in the joy of the Lord, so why aren't we skipping, clapping, and singing all the time??!! :) Simply put, we allow ourselves to be affected by negative thoughts and we fall right into the trap of the enemy who is prowling and lurking to steal, kill, and destroy! If we are not renewing our mind in Christ and making choices to glorify Him, we are not living to our full potential.
I am writing this from a place of humility as I have not been glorifying my God with my choices. We all fall into "ruts" of negativity or complacency. Then we cry out to God when things get tuff! We know what we need to do. We know the choices we need to make! So why don't we just do them?? The devil LOVES getting us into "ruts". They can be SO darn hard to get out of!! BUT we serve a God who is BIG and has already won! We are already victorious....we just have to LIVE like it! Our time on earth is just a breath in eternity. Why are we squandering it away on time wasting activities??
I am honored to have women in my life who live out the calling God has given them. These women are mentors to me and even just a 10 min phone conversation fills me with encouragement. After speaking to my Aunt Debbie the other day, I was SO encouraged! She is DONE being complacent! She is living her life to the fullest extent and is "about her Father's business" as she put it. I LOVED how she said that. When did we all stop trusting God for our everyday little things and decide He wasn't capable of handling them? When the people of Acts sold everything and were "about their Father's business", did they all starve?? NO!!! They saw a movement of the Holy Spirit that nobody had ever seen before! I believe that we are all challenged to live an "acts" life. The Holy Spirit has been challenging me and I encourage all of you to pray and....get ready for it.....OBEY! Praying can be the easy part, but obeying is more of a challenge.
How I'm obeying: The Holy Spirit put it on my heart to share the Aroma of Jesus with my neighbors. This is NOT easy for me as I would much rather spend my time with the friends I love. It's easy to love the people you have chosen to be in your life! It is a much different story to love the people that you didn't chose to be in your life. Imagine what a difference you could make. Putting flowers in a jar on a front porch with a note that says "You are Loved". It gives me Holy Ghost chills just thinking about all of the ways we could spread the sweet Aroma of our Savior in our city!!
After a lot of prayer, God put it on my heart to do a "Summer Lunch and Play" in my neighborhood. Initially I got excited thinking of all of my friends I was going to invite....then the Holy Spirit gently reminded me of my neighbors:) So, sorry friends....you are not invited to this one! I will be taking a week in August to hold a little summer camp for all the kids on our street. We have about 30 houses, so this could be big:) I will be hosting everyone for activities and lunch that week. This is REALLY stretching me as I haven't made time to get to know my new neighbors and have enjoyed locking myself in my home with my kids:) However, nobody is introduced to the sweet aroma of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ when we are closed in to our safe home with those we love.
So, you are officially being challenged!! Turn to Acts in your Bible....Pray and seek the Lord....Listen to what He is saying to you....OBEY HIM! Together we can unleash a movement of the Holy Spirit our city has never seen before!
Please send a copy of this blog to all your friends and family of the Lord. The Aroma Project challenge for the next 3 months is to influence your neighborhood and sphere of influence close to your home. Please email me with what God has put on your heart and pictures after you do it. We can create a community of believers who are TRULY making a difference in our city!
2 Corinthians 2:14-15 "14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma
Love you dear friends and thank you for the amazing support you've been in my life and my family the past couple years:) ~Meg
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