memories…

Today marks 3 years since my mother in law passed away. I thought about her this morning as the rain hit my windshield on the way to work. I was taken back to the day we buried her. It was a massive down pour that day so bad that the tents were almost about to fall through. She loved all seasons and really appreciated each day no matter sun, snow, rain or blistering cold. She taught me so much about slowing down in life and really seeing things and people along the way. She was one of my very best friends and I miss her more than you know.  I turned off my music and my phone was dead so I rode to work in silence just thinking back over some memories…

 

I took her to the movies to see Notting Hill and one of the parts literally made her laugh so hard she almost peed her pants!! We laughed to our drinks came out of our noses. I will never forget that moment.

 

 Richard was getting his masters atFloridaStateand we came home one weekend to see her and Rebekah walked through the door at 10 months old and saw Janice and began to call her Goudy.. still does to this day. I will never forget that moment.  

 

She had never traveled anywhere and so we took her to Disney World and toDaytona beachfor a week. I think it was more magical for her than for Rebekah at that point. Her face as she saw the castle for the first time and her face as she placed her feet in the sand will forever be engraved in my mind. I will never forget that moment.

 

I remember getting into the floor with Rebekah when she was teeny tiny and she would play for hours with her. I will never forget those moments.

 

I remember my mom and Janice taking Richard and I back to college one weekend and it was snowing so hard I didn’t know if we would make it…. Not because of the weather but because of how much we laughed. I will never forget that moment.

 

She taught me that everything has a place and there is a place for everything.. (still working on this one ha) I will never forget that moment.

 

She told me how to surrender to my calling and pushed me to speak for the first time. I will never forget that moment.

 

As I look back over her life I don’t think I will ever meet anyone like her. She inspired me to be selfless and to always put my husband and family first. My thoughts led me to this morning – In just three days her son will begin a HUGE new season of his life as we launch Revolution church. She would be so proud to know that her selflessness, her dedication, her validation, her constant support and love for him shaped and molded him and ultimately brought him three streets over from his house where he was raised to be apart of an awakening in this city! I am overwhelmed in this moment and I cannot wait to see what happens next! So in honor of Janice today I celebrate her life and all that she did to pave the way for who I am and who my children are and who my amazing husband is. We love you and miss you GOUDY!

battle for your thoughts-

How many of you ride in your car in complete silence? For me I usually get on my cell phone or crank up some music as soon I get into the driver or passenger’s seat. I have really had an awakening in my soul this week surrounding the word rest. I have watched my husband literally crash and burn this week and seek God’s face for endurance and strength as we countdown these last 10 days before www.RevolutionchurchNC.com launches on the 25th.  I have also watched my thoughts be attacked and tired is truly and understatement.  I have pressed through with a smile on my face but inside God seemed to be gently pulling me closely into a new truth that I have got to obey… and that is resting in His presence.  I mentor some college age girls weekly and this week I challenged them to turn off their radios and cd’s and drive from point A to point B in complete silence.  One in particular immediately said “oh no I have to listen to something! I can’t drive in silence because that’s when I think about negative things” 

Isaiah 30:15b says this.. ” in quietness and trust is your strength”

In the quietness of every moment we are allowing one of two things to take root- negative thoughts to infiltrate our minds and send us down the road of defeat that often takes us away from our calling and into disobedience.  Or we take those thoughts captive and use that time to seek God’s voice and soak up His presence with a positioned heart to battle what’s ahead while we pursue our passions with ALL you have. Satan knows that if he can plant a negative thought then your actions will follow.  However It’s hard to recognize the distractions because so many are good things. Music is soothing, friendships help with loneliness, church stuff pushes you and yet God wants one thing YOU. That verse says in quietness and TRUST is your strength– Do we truly trust God with our time? Passion? Our dreams? Our relationships? Our vulnerabilities?

Take time today to turn off your television, radio, Ipod or cell phone and listen with intent. Let the fight for your thoughts be won by your desire to be in the presence of your Creator.

Be still and know that I am God- Psalm 46:10

this is today…..

I don’t really know where to begin therefore I will start from where I am in this moment….

 We are 19 days away from launching Revolution Church. Many of you keep up with our facebook page as well as get our updates via email. I am sitting here this morning in complete awe of how things have come full circle. This time last year we were in the midst of walking away from a ministry we had poured our hearts into for many years. I have some of my closest friends that are walking beside me now as a result of that ministry. A lot of healing, anger and other emotions all ran their course as we walked away from all we knew  and other emotions formed as we begin to take the steps into this new season in our lives as a couple and as a family. God has transformed my heart and pushes me daily to desire His word alone. I have come out of fear and entered a place of walking humbly with my God. I have came out of people pleasing and entered into a place of walking with friendships that build me up and push me to see the truths of God’s word but with laughter and some fun along the way. Sharing life with people has become a highlight of my life and seeing my girls in the midst of this forgotten and parched and dry land we now call our church community has become a spiritual marker in both of their lives.  I have seen poverty at its worst and I have seen and heard things I never in a million years thought my kids would see and hear and yet I rejoice in those teachable moments.  We can shelter and we can protect but what kind of audacious faith is that really?  I am not telling you to go throw yourself or your kids in the midst of danger… but I see God’s hand every week working in their hearts as they develop a love for His people. I am not just talking about it with them they are living it. As Christ followers we have devotionals and bible studies and blah blah blah that talk about how to live your life and training on how to interact with people and then we never ever place ourselves in situations that we have to fully rely on God to walk us through it. I love the picture of the “good Samaritan” passage. 

Luke 10:  ³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man,. ³² So too, a Levite he passed by on the other side, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The Samaritan did three things..  He went to where HE WAS…  HE SAW HIM.. and took pity on him.  Look around where you are if your comfortable there is your first red flag. Following God requires selfless faith and complete and total surrender. Paul said take up your cross DAILY and take EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE. Its easy to set inside church hear and learn all you can but if you aren’t PLACING yourself  in situations to exercise the faith all you will end up being is spiritually fat. Don’t wait for change BE THE CHANGE!!

living a life of praise

I often will go back through some of my favorite blogs. This morning I came across one of my friends that I have known for several years and she continues to inspire me in so many ways! She is an amazing encourager and I cherish her friendship more than she knows. We may not talk for months but we both know that we pray continuously for the other. I wanted to share this blog she wrote back in 2009…

http://erinblair.wordpress.com/2009/09/01/pure-devotion/

use your voice…

Have you ever been so bothered by something that you couldn’t seem to get it off your mind?  Two weeks ago I watched the Movie- Taken.  It has plagued my mind over and over and there are moments I feel helpless and other times I am determined to DO something to change the world. Today I feel empowered and my heart is heavy.   The ministry I am apart of is passionate about the Home Foundation and we pray for God to move and resource this organization to help stop trafficking. We hold a yearly event and we spread the word when we travel and speak about this organization.    I have discovered that when you are able to make something real to people their perspective changes. I remember a few years ago a mom came to me over our support for the  Home Foundation and wanted me to stop talking about it at my events I was dumb founded and took her concerns but honestly it fueled me to speak even louder. I have seen video footage and read interviews where people witnessed these girls first hand.  They all seem to say the same thing. “We need to be the voice for those who have no voice”. Today I want you to check out this website and do two things-   #1 pray for all the girls enslaved- those who are in cages this very moment afraid and without hope.  Let’s pray for their freedom! #2  I want you to pray for how you can get involved by giving financially either a one time gift or partnering with them monthly.  God has given us a voice and we just choose how we are going to speak.  The time is now… DO SOMETHING

Isaiah 61:1

¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a]

Start here-

http://www.thehomefoundation.net/

BE THE CHANGE!

Holly Myers

President UNBOUND Ministry

put own your OWN armor…

 Summer is in full swing and I am already seeing back to school stuff everywhere I go. Rachel even said “I don’t want to think about school during summer but every store reminds me that it’s almost here.” I thought about that statement and the more and more I thought I was reminded of a word that has stripped some of us from embracing our true worth or kept me from fully chasing after MY own God-given dreams. That word is EXPECTATION. I don’t think we understand how damaging it can be. I lived my entire life in the shadows of other people’s expectations and their “perception” of who they wanted me to be shackled me from being who God had created me to be.  I know so many parents including myself who place a certain level of expectation on our kids and when they don’t meet it we become frustrated and sometimes upset with our kids. I have really started to step back and evaluate how often I do that to my own girls just in the last few weeks and months.  For instance both of my girls are responsible for cleaning their rooms and neither does it like I WANT IT DONE! I mean it drives me bonkers and for so long I would re-do and fuss, ground them, take stuff away you name it and then I realized I was doing more damage.  I was placing MY expectations on them and they couldn’t meet them within my boundary of thinking.  Rebekah’s idea of cleaning is everything off the floor and into the closet.  I have learned to breathe before I walk into her room and pray nothing bites me in the process haha but honestly our relationship has strengthened and she has now started to actually FOLD HER CLOTHES and put them away.    You see what if your words determine whether or not your daughter, your sister, that stranger you meet chases after a dream or throws up their hands and says I CAN’T do this.   Just yesterday I was shopping with Rebekah who is almost 14 and she wanted Richard to take Rachel to her stores and she wanted me to go with her to try on a bajillllllion outfits.  Every piece she picked up in my mind I was saying NOOOOOO not that but I refused to say anything because she was walking in confidence in her decisions. (one day she will look back and say MOM WHY DID YOU LET ME WEAR THAT! ) She waked out with a few cute things (I said a few hahaha) and she felt truly accomplished because she had picked out what SHE WANTED and even more she was happy because I let her buy it.   My expectation of wanting her to dress a certain way could have ruined a moment, crushed her confidence and pushed her away from who God is calling her to be.  I was reminded of a story in 1 Samuel 17 -David and Goliath. We have heard this story about a strong young man who kicked the tail of a giant with a few rocks. As I read that story this past week I noticed something I had never noticed before…

1 Samuel 17 ³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. “I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

Saul dressed David in his OWN TUNIC and David couldn’t even walk around in it. Saul wanted to protect him and equip him for battle. When David took off what Saul put on him and fought with HIS rocks and who he was Goliath went down. Imagine if David would have run to the battle line with all of Saul’s armor clanking around the story might have not ended the way it did.  You see Saul wanted to protect David but the key word was HIS ARMOR! We place our expectations on people with the hope of “helping” or protecting them based on what we think is right and God wants to use their talents, their personalities, their quirks and their weaknesses to bring forth MIGHTY things!  Don’t allow others to cloth you in their dreams and don’t cloth others in yours.  CHASE after your own God-given dreams exactly how you are and allow God to BLOW YOUR MINDS!!!  Now GO change the world!!!.

Holly

christmas gift in May?

Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a NEW thing!”….

I came across this verse this morning and it has just stuck with me. My love language is gifts and so of course I love NEW things 🙂 I don’t just love the gift itself but the packaging and the cute tissue paper sticking out and so on. What is funny is that most of my family almost always give me a present in MAY for my birthday in a grocery bag-or the bag from they place they purchased it or my favorite left over Christmas bags. I have come to terms with it and I will eventually heal (kidding). I thought about the process of giving someone a gift and all the thought or the lack there of that goes into it. For instance when I am buying teacher gifts I usually have a sheet with all their favorites on it and so it’s easy to get a cute basket and fill it up with all their favorite candies, candles, lotions etc. There is no SURPRISE factor. With Friends I love buying cute gifts and really thinking about how or why I am buying that gift. And then there is the “oh my gosh what in the world do I buy them present” that usually ends up a gift card or money. For me I am a surprise gift kinda girl. I love the anticipation of what’s in the box or bag. I like shaking it, driving you crazy with the desire to know and if left alone I would probably peek!!!! I also have realized that I could care less about the amount spent on a gift. If it is lip gloss a pen or a cute journal than my heart beats with a smile on it. I just love the NEWness of it. God has the exact same effect on our lives. He wants to give us more than we could ever imagine and SHOCK us a few times along the way! (Ephesians 3:20 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,” What if we would lived our lives surrendered to the Creator of this Universe who made a woman out of her man’s rib- who spoke the stars and ocean into existence and lavished us in His grace and made us NEW?? WOW imagine the possibilities…

Holly

is the grass really green?

Over the past 10 years I have been surrounded by teen and college age girls. A few of those girls now serve with me in ministry weekly. I have walked through many of heartache with these girls and pushed them to become who God created them to be. I have hugged them when a boy crushed their hearts, or listened to them complain about curfews and so on. BUT now it’s my turn on the parent side. I have an “almost 14” year old teenage girl YIKES!!!! It’s funny watching her go through the awkward stages such as zits, “girl stuff”, boy issues, friend drama, rolling of the eyes, and short shorts. I have realized just over the last few weeks that it is also a crucial time in her life. Yesterday we had the most incredible talk and I walked away almost in tears because of that moment. I didn’t sleep well the night before last because of a nightmare. After laying there for a while I began to pray for my girls and the protection of their hearts. Rebekah turns 14 in just a few weeks, starts high school, cheerleading, band and she is now walking into the label of “preacher’s kid”. We have always been so honest and open with our girls and I can see that it has paid off. I think one of the biggest mistakes parents make are choosing to NOT share the stories or address the hard issues with their kids. When Rebekah has had a OH MY GOODNESS questions we have discussed it and when she walked away our relationship with her was that much more strengthened. Yesterday our conversation started with me asking this question- “what color is the grass? “ She responded ‘is this a trick question” then she tells me green so I push a little more and say ”but how do you know its green and why do you believe that its green and why can’t it be yellow.” She asked me where in the world I was going with all this. I told her that for many years I always desired to feel beautiful and I had watched so many girls her age do the exact same. KNOWING your beautiful and DESIRING to feel beautiful will lead you in the opposite directions. When a girl/young lady/woman wants to feel beautiful she begins to fuel the desire by everything she does. Her outfits reflect that, her friendships, her relationships, her music it ALL plays into the desire. I remember being her age and putting short skirts on just to get the reaction from all the boys. I desired to feel something and yet God wanted me to KNOW how much of a masterpiece I truly was. (Ephesians 2:10). Our desires will always match our actions. Over the last several years I have walked through a journey of really embracing my worth and beauty IN CHRIST. I am 36 and oh how I wish I could have embraced it when I was my daughter’s age. Our talk ended with Psalm 45:11 The King is ENTHRALLED by your beauty, honor Him for He is your Lord. / This is one of my most favorite verses because it’s packed with truth. It says we are BEAUTIFUL! Let that sink in… you are breathtaking. Second of all it says HONOR Him- that’s in EVERY area of our lives. Our words-our thoughts-our relationships-our responses all come as a direct reflection of our love for Christ and how we honor Him. The last part is the part I just LOVE! IT says “for He is your Lord”. I thought to myself HE IS MINE! The Creator of this universe is my love! He desires to have intimacy with me that is pure and real; He has placed a passion and dreams in my heart and then equipped me. He protects my heart and drives me through pain and suffering and floods me with grace that leaves me speechless. You see ladies the desire to feel beautiful should never overcome the TRUTH of KNOWING that you are beautiful because in the midst of chasing that desire you miss moments and dreams simply to fulfill something that is already there!! YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!! I am so thankful that God has given me girls I am watching them bloom right before my eyes

I prefer to be on the bus….

Richard and I are still talking about our 5 day adventure to New York-Washington and Philadelphia. I am sure we will always remember this anniversary for years to come. One of the highlights of our trip was riding around on top of a double decker tour bus. It was suggested to us by a friend and he told us to make sure we get on the top so we could really see everything. It was reasonably priced and we used it as our mode of transportation the entire time we were there (it was a hop on/hop off bus). We would ride until we saw something or a place we wanted to visit. The adventure began as soon as you would get off the bus because the walk to whatever you wanted to see was usually a pretty good ways from the bus stop. It was so easy hopping off those buses but we usually always seem to get lost and have a hard time finding our way back to the bus stop. I thought about my journey through self image issues and the 14 years I have battled my weight. It has taken me through some of the deepest times in my life as well some huge victories. UNBOUND Ministry came out of my struggle and the realization of who I am in Christ. Over two years ago I began this journey of working on my heart towards food and the way I view my body as oppose to actually stressing and obsessing over losing weight. I see things so differently now because I see how God views me. I was viewing food as a means to completion and if I lost weight than I was happy and when I stepped on the scale and I had gained or if I was around people who were beautiful and “skinny” I would walk away in complete defeat mode. God was setting me up for this season in my life and I am loving this journey. Several months ago I read Made to Crave (incredible book) and I began to see just how addicted to food I was. In the midst of our 6 week small group I joined weight watchers and I began to learn about portion control. I have now asked a very close friend of mine to become my accountability partner. I have never in 14 years had someone to truly stay on top of my eating habits and encourage me non stop. She is telling me all kinds of crazy tips-nutritional facts and ideas for eating. I find myself looking at labels, reading about nutrients because I know she is going to ask me what I have eaten. She created me an account online that I have to log my food in and for the first time EVER I am honest with my food consumption and she always pushes me back on track. I never once get mad or try and hide it from her and that is CRAZY! I compare it to that double decker bus tour because the journey back to the bus each time made me that more thankful and ready to just ride and enjoy the view. I have recognized my triggers and I am really trying to fight this addiction with not only my discipline but I am saturating myself in God’s word. God has given me a body to take care of and to nurture. I am choosing to rest in His presence as He pushes me and molds me to be who He created me to be. I read some blogs from like 4 or 5 years ago and I was brutal to myself. I said things like “I hate my body and who I am when I look in the mirror” I almost cried because that girl has been gone for a long time yet I weight almost the exact same thing. God has done a work in my heart over these last few years and I see transformation happening! He works from the inside out and though it has been painful at times I am tasting VICTORY on and off the scales! God’s word has become like honey to my lips and I am learning to walk so close as I push with all I have into Him because I want to see Him rather than my struggle-

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

2 Corinthians 5:17 17 Therefore, if anyone is IN Christ, he is a NEW creation; old things have passed away; behold, ALL things have become new.
I am being made new…..

STOP-LOOK-LISTEN

I honestly think I could write a book on the adventures that occurred last week while on my anniversary trip to New York. What was meant to be a short 24 hour trip turned into 4 days of adventures! I am going to be writing several blogs in the next few days and here is the first of many…

This was our 15th wedding anniversary. He is my best friend in the entire world and gets me on so many levels. He knows me. I surprised him with a romantic trip to New York City. I had the plane tickets purchased, the tours and hotel reserved and we were set for our trip. We had incredible quality time -holding hands on the streets through NYC, kissing in Times Square and we talked for hours at a time. This was truly the best trip we have ever been on together even though it was constant chaos. When we arrived in NYC the first thing I noticed is that hardly anyone smiled. People were walking fast going somewhere and yet they seemed to be so robotic and such loneliness filled their eyes. Now of course I don’t mean every single person we passed or came in contact with but A LOT. I saw a huge city with bright lights, beautiful buildings that were breathtaking and yet there was a feeling of sheer loneliness. We were walking through the park and saw a homeless man laying just a few short feet away from a very well dressed business man who was sitting on a bench listening to his ipod and playing games on his Ipad –I saw a lady doing yoga- to a girl laying out in the sun to an elderly lady sitting on the edge of the grass drawing the entire picture. I looked at all the people and no one seemed to connect with anyone other than themselves. I thought about what the lady drawing saw- Did she see what I was seeing? Did she see everyone trying to block out the chaos of their city life in the quietness of this park? Were they escaping a bad home life? Was this a brief attempt to escape work? Was this the only sleep this poor man gets? Now I am sure I didn’t come close to getting any of their stories right nor did I talk to any of them- but I watched with such intensity. We saw so many areas that were just BROKEN! I could only think of the dreams that many of those people had and yet shattered by something-

It made me think about the area we are planting our church and the people who flock every Wednesday to our block parties. I mean 60 -70 kids/teens come running (literally) when they see us pull in the parking lot. Dirty hands, snotty noses, BAD language and the worst “your mama” jokes I have ever heard and yet I LOVE these kids. I can’t wait to be immersed in the midst of their culture each week. Even more my kids are right in the mix of it all. I have some pretty funny discussions with them following but they are serving and playing with these kids and they are building friendships with them. I truly know and believe that some people are called to do foreign missions but I am also seeing brokenness right in front of me IN MY CITY. We always think of the great commission as GOING somewhere else and I truly believe that if we all GO then who is going to GO next door? GO into the projects? GO into the streets on behalf of those who are broken directly in front of us. I have a good friend serving in Honduras this entire summer and she is passionate for those people -she truly wants to be an instrument of change in that area. She is studying and learning the culture of the people surrounding her. The other night we were on skype and she literally is soaking up every second of that culture up. I truly feel that when God places an undeniable passion within us and we allow life to get in the way we are missing HUGE opportunities to see God move. We can be apart of watching a city change right in front of our eyes and people come to know Christ on a whole new level! Remember when you were a kid people would say STOP-LOOK-LISTEN before you cross the road. What if we would apply those same three words every single day and truly begin to see people in a whole new way and offer a love that can literally change them from the inside-out.

Matthew 4:14-16 (MSG)
14-16″Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.