Entertaining God's Plan

Image by Madi Flournoy Henderson

To officially enter this blogger world, I felt like I had to write at least one post about styling a bar cart. It’s basically a right of passage. So, here it is. My beautiful bar cart from World’s Market, and I absolutely love it.

I also absolutely love to entertain. I am happy to offer my home for all types of occasions: from dinner parities, to baby showers, to football gatherings, and—of course—Sunday in the Shed. Having people over to my house is one of my favorite things to do. So, naturally, adding a bar cart to my entertaining collection made perfect sense. It was also a great reason to buy macaroons from Whole Foods that only cost a small fortune (shhh, don’t tell Adam!). 

When I planned this photo shoot, I didn’t totally think it through. And I’ve honestly struggled a bit with trying to figure out how I am going to incorporate my bar cart into my Christian blog. Like, what was I going to do? God loves you, so let’s pop the champagne and celebrate all His blessings?  Yeah… No. Then it hit me. 

This past weekend I struck up a conversation with an old acquaintance, who suddenly felt like a close friend that had been in my life for years. The words she spoke and the strength she exuded could only come straight from the heart of God.  It was a force of faith that could shine in the darkest of holes. If I ever have to go to battle, I will seek her strength to help guide the way. That is how strong she is.

It was during our simple conversation that I realized the gift she was giving me. But, if I am being honest, she had given that gift long ago. This time, however, it was just hitting me smack dab in the face. She was teaching me that God places us in situations beyond our control, yet gives us the strength to confront those situations with nothing more than a faith in Him.

Entertaining a party seems like a pretty easy task when compared to entertaining the plan God has for your life.

Sometimes that plan seems exciting, glamorous, and even thrilling. Other times that plan seems gruesome, painful, and completely unwarranted. The hard part is realizing that no matter the plan or the path, God is shaping you through each and every step. You have to choose if you are going to let him walk beside you… or behind you.

Image by Jenn Gietzen

Excited about YOU!

I get excited about a lot of simple things in life. Like not having to wait in line at Fido on a Saturday afternoon. Or Adam coming home early enough that we can go for a walk. Or finding a really comfortable, yet affordable top from Fab’rik.

I also get excited about a lot of big things (well, big to me at least), such as watching a student finally have enough confidence to join the other boys in a basketball game rather than watching from the sidelines. Or seeing your best friend go on a well deserved trip to her favorite place on the planet. Or having your team be ranked number one in your adult kickball league (yes, this is a big thing… A very big thing.  I love my kickball team)!

But you know what I don’t get as excited about?  Myself.  We hear over and over that we are our own biggest critic. As I chase this dream more and more, I have to really work hard to ignore my inner critic, who tells me I’m crazy for thinking this could all work out. That guy just won’t shut up some days.

But God’s voice and His excitement for you should be LOUDER than our inner critic. When we put ourselves in the most vulnerable places, we tend to put His cheers for us on mute.  Instead, we should be allowing Him to stand in the front row, waving His handmade sign, and yelling “Let’s Go, [insert your name here], Let’s Go!

Romans 9:25 says, “I’ll call them nobodies and make them somebodies; I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved.”

Funny enough, right about the time I began to step out into this new, unfamiliar world, my church started a series called Wonderlife, which was exactly what I needed for this season. There will be more about this series on the Sunday in the Shed page in the near future.

But, in short, the whole point of Wonderlife is to get excited about yourself and realize God put you here for a reason… That God adores you and your story matters. 

Image from Noel Shiveley

So get excited about you! Better yet, get excited about the dreams God has in store for you. Because honestly, “the most radical thing you can be is yourself” – Mike Foster. 

Come Together

This past weekend was packed full of events where people were coming together. The City of Franklin put on their annual Main Street Festival. Our church had Serve the City, where over a thousand volunteers went out to do just that – serve the city. Discouraged Predators fans got together and hoped that their cheers would be heard all the way in California (unfortunately, this didn’t work out so well).

While all three of these events were for different purposes, they all had one thing in common – community.

Main Street brought people together to showcase the community’s talents – whether that was through homemade soaps, ACE’s kettle corn, or my all-time favorite… distressed wood signs that say “Nashville.”  The festival showcased artists, singers, and performers from all over Middle Tennessee.

Serve the City brought people together for the purpose of serving other people. It consisted of volunteers giving up their Saturday morning to pick up trash, clean up yards, and fix up homes – all while giving back to the city they call home. Serve the City was a showcase of the change, both physical and emotional, that can happen when people come together.

Believe it or not, despite a losing effort, the Preds even brought people together. Yes, these get-togethers probably consisted of a little more food, a few more beverages, and possibly a few choice words; but, it was a place of community all the same. For our group, the Preds gathering involved the guys cheering in the living room and the girls sitting on the back porch sharing life stories and watching our talented friend design chalkboards. I honestly didn’t even realize the Preds lost until we got home later that night and noticed Adam moping around. 

The point of highlighting these events is to showcase our need for community. People like to be around people – especially people that encourage and challenge you. It’s important to value those people that God has placed in your life. It’s also important to recognize that community can be anywhere.

Not only can you have community at church, but you can also have community at work, at the gym, at your child’s school, or even while hanging with your friends on a casual Saturday night. And these communities give you a chance to make your mark. It can be in big ways, like organizing a platform for your co-workers to raise money for a local charity. It can be in small ways, like bringing hummus and pita chips (ok, ok… champagne works, too) to a much needed girls’ night at a friend’s house. It can even be as simple as picking up the phone and catching up with an old friend. The point is that you can build community through your work and through your love. Further, you can build God’s community when you live as an example of everything He can do. But I promise you – you can’t do it alone. You need community.

How can you contribute to building your community this week?

Image by Emily Poe-Crawford