Somebody's Daughter

This morning as I was working, I had the TV on in the background. I often do this for noise. Growing up in house with 5 boys has done this to me, there was always noise going on, and for some reason I still enjoy having an element of sound around as I work. Well The View was on, and my ears perked up as they said Courtney Love was going to be on there. Immediately visions of me in my bedroom screaming "Go on take everything!" came into my head. I was a Hole fan at the age of 12 and their album "Live Through This" was often heard blasting in my room. (Ah, the middle school angst.) Miss Love has a new album out called "Nobody's Daughter." She said she titled it this because she comes from a family line where her grandmother and mother were disowned or orphaned and her father lost custody of her at a young age. (I think that stuff is accurate. I can't remember all the details of what she said so forgive me for not remembering.) Either way it struck me that she comes from a background of where she doesn't feel like she belongs to anyone. Isn't that how many of us feel? We are truly aliens in this world, and often one of Satan's best tricks is making us feel alone and unwanted. I think this is a pulse that unfortunately runs through many of us. I wanted to shout to her, "but you can be somebody's daughter!" I'm somebody's daughter. And by somebody, I mean SOMEBODY. I have a dear friend who was adopted and then disowned by the very people that adopted her. This breaks my heart. How can someone do that? Just as the boy from Russia who was adopted and then sent back by himself on a plane with the lame excuse that he was just too hard to take care of. So many of us feel lost and that we don't belong to anyone. There is someone who cares for us no matter how hard or difficult we are or what our past looks like. Praise God that we can be adopted in the family of Christ! Jesus, came for that very reason! I'm not talking about the cleaned up, polished version of Jesus that so many churches paint. I'm talking about the bloodied, wounded Jesus who took on our very sin, our brokenness, our messed up past-no matter how screwed up it is even though he was perfect. He died so that we could belong to SOMEBODY. He died so we didn't have to. We no longer are alone in this world. As I've written about before, I'm doing a Bible study on John and recently we've been talking about Christ's crucifixion. I did not know this, but Jesus had about a mile to carry his cross to the hill at Golgotha. During this mile walk, anyone could still speak out if they felt that He was innocent and Jesus would at that point be retried. The entire trial would start over, but not a single person spoke up. Can you imagine how alone he felt? Even Jesus' family at that point didn't believe in him. His own brothers didn't believe he was the Messiah. His family rejected him. I think Jesus knows how it feels to feel like you belong to nobody....this gives a whole new meaning to walking a mile in my shoes doesn't it?.....but then we see the whisper of God at work....the reminder that we DO belong to someone.....Jesus, was not able to carry his cross the entire way by himself. (He was too weak from the illegal beatings that had taken place.) A man named Simon was chosen to help Jesus carry his cross. I find this a beautiful picture. Isn't it so like God to ensure that even in the hardest, darkest moments we are not alone. I'm sure Jesus felt alone, but his Father made sure someone was there with him. Whether we recognize it or not we are never alone. I pray that God's whisper of "I AM with you" is much louder than the hiss of Satan that no one cares-you're alone. Courtney you can be SOMEBODY'S daughter. I am a daughter of the King. Praise God that he adopted me into his family. He will adopt anyone who comes to him and believes that he is the Son of God. Don't we all want to belong to someone? Won't you let SOMEONE carry your burdens today? You can be SOMEBODY'S daughter or son...not just anyone's daughter or son, but the ONE who gave his own son for you...

Ephesians 1:4-6 (NLT)
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
Romans 10:9,10 (NLT)

Eating Bread Crumbs. . . . ... ....

Okay maybe I shouldn't be surprised by now that the Lord is the one who directs my path, and that he goes before me everywhere I go, but when he keeps doing it I'm just wowed! This past year and 2 months of trying to do music ministry full time has been so interesting. Absolutely every time I begin feeling like "why am I doing this?" "Did God really call me to do this?" "There's nothing going on, how am I possibly going to keep doing this?" He ALWAYS and I mean ALWAYS brings something or someone my way to encourage me. I feel like Gretel following the bread crumb path, and just when I think I can't find the next bread crumb, there it is just around the next turn. (I wonder if I'll ever make it to the big candy house? lol!) What I have noticed is that I have done nothing. I do not deserve any credit for any event I've gone to or done. The Lord has been the one to bring all of it my way. Every church I've sang at, every push to keep playing guitar, every kind person who has given me a chance has been because the Lord did it. This past week I have found myself becoming a little anxious because things have seemed to slow down for me. The rest of this month seems slow and the month of May looks just like it. Now I know that this hasn't been booked yet, but regardless this is how the Lord keeps doing things. This is not the first time this has happened, and I am always so encouraged and in awe of it. Literally a few minutes ago I checked my fan page on facebook (I don't do this very regularly even though I should) and there is a sweet message from a lady who heard me sing at an event back in (I think) 2006? She said she would love to have me come to her church. Yet again someone God completely brought into my path. I'm honored to be on this bread crumb path that the Lord has me on. It may be narrow, but I pray I always stay on it. His path is the best. His bread crumbs are far better than any feast I could find off of this path. He is my daily bread, and I am overwhelmed by His love for me. Oh how He loves us. He truly does...