“Preach always, if necessary use words.”  - St. Francis Assisi 

One of the easiest ways to reach someone with the love of Christ is to be like Him. What was He like? In the Word, He describes Himself as ‘servant of all’. If we would take the time to serve those around us, it makes it possible for them to see the love of God in us. It makes Him real. In this second message of the series we’ll look at what it means to SERVE.

No Words Necessary II – Sunday Burquest from Living Word Christian Center on Vimeo.

Love you more than knowing I can serve others and show God’s love, 

Sunday

I had the pleasure of once again joining the amazing team at Twin Cities Live. The focus of this segment was ideas on how to brighten your front door area. We covered painted doors, wreaths and more!

I was browsing Pinterest for spring wreath ideas and found a cute burlap wreath.

It’s SO EASY to make! I love how versatile they can be; you can add any color or type of flowers, ribbon or no ribbon or nothing at all.  The other amazing thing about these wreaths is they are inexpensive to make. I only needed 3 things to get started: burlap garland, wire wreath frame and ribbon.

I found my Burlap Garland at Walmart for $5,47 for a 10 foot roll; I used 2 rolls for my wreath.

I simply pushed sections of burlap through the wire, twisted and pushed it into the next spot. I just continued the same technique until I filled the wreath.

I used a piece of the burlap to make a hanger on the back.

I honestly think the wreath is cute the way it is. But, I have a problem, I always have to add just a little bit more!

Love you more than seeing the snow finally melt in the end of April, 

Sunday

{SERVE}

There are several meanings to the word serve. If you are a waitress, you’re a server or if you get legal papers hand delivered to you, you’ve been served. I want to focus on this word in the most positive light possible. Did you know if you are a Christian, you are a minister? Ok, before you freak out – let me explain!

The word ‘minister’ literally means: serve the needs of, attain to the needs of. Often times when we hear the word minister, we think in terms of a pastor, evangelist or someone in the pulpit.  First of all, we are  ALL called to be what the the Bible refers to as ‘ministers of reconciliation’. Simply put, it means we are to reconcile others to Christ. Second, we are supposed to be walking examples of Him. Jesus refers to Himself as a servant and His life was an example of this.  Think of some of His most famous miracles, they were acts of service. Turning the water into wine, feeding the 5,000 and even helping Peter with his fishing, were all examples of Jesus serving (or meeting the needs of) others.

Matthew 20:28 (MSG) “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

It’s not a stretch to see that Jesus was a servant. The question is, how do we follow His example? Sometimes, I make excuses and tell myself I don’t have time to serve others.  But if I’m honest with myself , I know that’s not really the case. To serve others doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming. For most of us we’re so distracted with everything we have going on in our own lives that we just don’t take the time to notice ways we can serve. Serving is a lifestyle, it’s a mindset and it’s even a blessing to the person who does the serving. One thing I love about God is, when He asks us to do something it always ends up benefiting us. ALWAYS.

Do you have people in your circle of influence that don’t know Jesus? One of the best ways to win them to Christ, is to serve them. Doing something nice for another person, out of genuine care and love, speaks louder than any Bible verse you can quote. By serving you soften the heart, strengthen the relationship and earn a right to speak into someones life.

One of my favorite ways to serve is on a missions trip. In this picture, we were delivering bags of food in the bush. At one particular hut I gave an older gentleman his bag and after serving him in this way, I was able to ask him if he’d like prayer. I believe that food opened the door for him to be willing to accept. The icing on the cake was, he was healed in one eye of cataracts! I literally watched his eye clear up right in front of me. This miracle was the second way, we served this man. You can never tell Him that God isn’t real and that He is good.

We have opportunities to serve. All we have to do is ask the Holy Spirit to show us who and how. If we decide we’re going to follow Jesus’ example and serve others, we will begin to see the needs of others around us.

What can you do today to serve someone? I’m going to be looking for my chance today!

Love you more than knowing Jesus, the King of Kings, served me, 

Sunday

Happy Sunday!

Last week we started a new series at The Fifth Service: No Words Necessary. One of my favorite quotes is by St. Francis Assi: “Preach always, if necessary use words.” As a Christian, it’s my job to live my life in such a way that it speaks love and demonstrates who Jesus is to those in my circle of influence. I hope this simple message helps you see how easy it can be to let your light shine!

No Words Necessary, “Share Who You Are” – Sunday Burquest from Living Word Christian Center on Vimeo.

Love you more than Sunday morning!

Sunday

{Jesus Hates Religion}

Does is surprise you to hear Jesus hated religion? It’s true! For the month of March we’re doing a new serious called, Jesus VS Religion.  Jesus is a person we have a relationship NOT a religion we follow.

Check this out and see if you agree!

Jesus vs. Religion #1 from Living Word Christian Center

Love you more than Sundays, 

Sunday

One of my goals this year (I know it’s March, but hey I’m a little slow these days) is to learn to eat healthier. I can do Weight Watchers, I know how to cut calories and eat good, but I’m talking about taking it up a notch – actually more than a notch! For me one of the best ways to learn is from a friend.

Today I’d like to introduce my friend, Sarah Haglund and her new blog: Life With Greens. I know you’ll love her as much as I do, did I mention she’s as sweet as apple pie?

Hi, I’m Sarah and greens are in my blood. I’m changing the world with them – join me!

I have a passion to see people living life to the fullest, so that they can make the biggest impact in the world that they were designed for. One of the foundations for this is being aware of how any food we put into our bodies affects us on a daily basis. I’m sure we all get tired about hearing of the latest diet trend – which is why I started a blog! No more diets, no more trends, just a genuinely healthy, whole-food based lifestyle.

Two weeks ago I launched “Life with Greens” as a resource and place to direct people when they ask me about the basics of living a healthy life. I feel that the average consumer is often deceived when it comes to choosing healthy foods, and is inundated with misleading marketing everywhere. On the blog I’m addressing what to look for when grocery shopping, giving foundational health principles, and posting recipes that your body will THRIVE on.

As much as I believe in feeling awesome all the time, as well as stewarding your body to the best of your ability, I also have a heart for human trafficking victims (sold as slaves, sexually or for labor, involuntarily) around the world. Two years ago, I launched a philanthropic initiative called Fuel Hope. It exists to raise money and awareness to help eradicate human trafficking. We partner with Truckers Against Trafficking and Pearl Alliance to target this problem locally (within the U.S.), and globally in one of the heaviest trafficked areas of the world (southeast Asia).

{100%}

100% of the money that gets raised through Fuel Hope goes directly to our partners, and they then give 100% of the money straight into the organizations doing the transformation. It’s an awesome process, and unique that 100% of the money can actually go to where it’s designed to go.

You may be wondering how do these two things (Life with Greens & Fuel Hope) tie together? Let me explain.

Not only is Life with Greens a health blog, but it is also a call to action. I have links for purchasing what I believe is the best powdered greens drink on the market. It is ALIVE with nutrition, and has over 90 ingredients to target EVERY organ of your body. It provides live enzymes to give you more energy and the best part is that by drinking it, you are essentially giving life to others that you may never meet. Over $8.00 of every jar of greens sold through Life with Greens goes directly to Pearl Alliance (our partner addressing global slavery). They are a non-profit dedicated to seeing slavery cease, and they emphasize the approach of building a healthy community that flourishes, so that the cycle of trafficking can be broken.

I believe life is about more than ourselves and that we all can make a difference somehow. By bringing two and two together (life for you, life for them), we can create a win-win scenario that gives life to you in the form of health, energy, and vitality to ultimately impact more people, and to them, the exploited, so the cycle can be broken.

{Life for you, life for them – that’s Life with Greens.}

I know I covered a lot of information, but when marrying these two topics – health and anti-trafficking, there is a lot to cover! I did not want to leave you hanging on some health tips though, so I included a few today. If you are new to living a healthy lifestyle, here are 3 awesome tips to get you feeling better than ever!

1. Drink 20-24 ounces of water immediately upon waking up in the morning. Do not shower, do not eat, do not do anything until you have your larger-than-life glass of water. :) This will help to cleanse your colon, increase the production of new blood cells and muscle tissue, jump start weight-loss, purge toxins from skin (so you glow!), and rebalance your lymph system (master control system that helps with all of your daily functions: balancing fluid levels, and fighting infections). If you want to take it a step further, add raw lemon juice (which is very cleansing and alkaline) to your water too!
2. Eat something green at every meal. Spinach, broccoli, avocado, etc… anything that is green is going to be AWESOME for you and contain essential life-giving minerals and amazing nutrition.
3. Change out all of your white table salt to Celtic Sea Salt (gray in color) or Himalayan Sea Salt (pink/red in color). Your body needs salt, but it needs the right kind of salt! Discover the differences in refined and unrefined salt, and how the latter is actually super healthy for you containing over 84 minerals, whereas white salt is void.

To check out my blog follow the links below.

Stay fresh, people! Change your world, and others. –Sarah

Life with Greens

Fuel Hope

Please stop over to Sarah’s blog and follow her, you’ll be amazed at what you’ll learn!

Love you more than green food, 

Sunday

{Failure}

Did your mom ever give you this advice, “If you don’t succeed try, try again”? I found a great one on Facebook the other day, it said: “If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you”- LOL.  All of us have failed, probably multiple times, but we have to move past those failures and keep trying!

The ‘fear of failure’ stops many of us from pursuing our dreams. Nobody wants to fail and to avoid it we just don’t take the step. Our oldest is going to graduate this year and has major decisions to make regarding college. My husband and I had a long (I mean really long) talk with him the other night because it seems like he is dragging his feet and we wanted to know why. After about an hour we came to the conclusion he is struggling with the thought of failing.  I felt horrible seeing him agonize over this.  His biggest fear was he would choose wrong or that he wouldn’t be following God’s plan for his life.

I completely understood his fear, I’ve been there. I’ve cried my own tears to the Lord, wanting to make sure I made the right choice. I remember as a teenager questioning whether or not I could hear God’s voice. Of course, the enemy loves  it when we’re confused and when we question whether or not we’re hearing His voice.

If you’ve ever had these same thoughts, let me give you the same advice I gave my son: 

1. You do hear the voice of the Lord, even if you don’t always realize it.
2. The Holy Spirit knows you better than you know yourself; He knows how to make sure you hear His voice.
3. You can’t steer a parked car (Joyce Meyer). God can’t take you anywhere unless you’re moving.
4. If you do your best to follow His lead and you are wrong, it’s ok! He will reward you for simply for doing what you thought He wanted you to do.
5. Worst case scenario, if you fail: learn from it, move on and try again. We all fail, it’s part of life and you’ll survive.

Here’s some advice from the Word: 

1. Romans 8:14 (AMP) “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (or you could say, if you are a son of God, you are led by the Spirit of God). 
2. Proverbs 3:5-6 (AMP) “Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways recognize and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths
3. John 10:27 (MSG) “My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life.”

Fear is an enemy to God and can stop us from pursing what God has placed in our hearts. I’d like to encourage you to ask yourself if the ‘fear of failure’ is holding you back. I like to ask myself, what will happen if I fail or make a mistake? In most cases the failure wouldn’t be earth shattering (maybe pride shattering) and usually wouldn’t be something I couldn’t do over.

I have to remember I’m not perfect, I will make mistakes and I can not allow the fear of failure to hold me back! I love what Proverbs 24:16 says, “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.”

Love you more than trusting the Lord knows how to direct me, 

Sunday

Is my child actually going away to college? I can’t believe it. 

{Anxiety}

Hello friends! Have you noticed I’ve been somewhat MIA? I came to the realization last night that my life has been running me instead of me running my life. I have felt out of control and overwhelmed  in every area.  I’m going to be honest and tell you that not only have I felt ‘out of control’  but, it’s got to the place where I have been dealing with anxiety attacks. This is not something I’ve dealt with in the past, not until cancer knocked on my door.

Now, before you feel sad for me, I have to tell you the good news. Last Thursday, I had an anxiety attack. What brought it on was MY THOUGHTS. My thoughts about what I think I need and don’t have, thoughts about how much I need to do, thoughts about what I’m not doing right, the list goes on and on. That night I went to church to listen to Creflo Dollar and the Lord met me there. As Creflo ministered it as if the Holy Spirit was speaking directly to me!

He spoke about worry and fear (ummm…or anxiety) being something that starts between the ears. It’s not that we don’t  have enough faith to believe God for His best, it’s that we have too much unbelief. Why do we struggle with unbelief? Because we fail to REMEMBER all God has already done for us. Duh…. you don’t need to hit me over the head with a brick to get that!

If God can heal my body of cancer, if He can save my husband’s life by making him a walking miracle, if he can provide a home, cars and wonderful children,  what in the world am I worried about?

One of my favorite verses is found in I Peter 5:7 (AMP) “Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns,once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

Newsflash: Instead of thinking my way into an anxiety attack, I can think myself into faith!

I found this floating around on Facebook one day and just loved it! Not only is it beautiful, but sums up how I’m going to try to live my life.

Love you more than knowing Jesus will carry my burdens for me, 

Sunday

P.S. To hear Creflo’s message (I seriously recommend it!) follow this link:

I’ve been looking for a clock for what seems like forever! I finally found one and it’s seriously cuter than I could have imagined. My new ‘favorite ever find’ came from The Salvation Army for only $129… HAPPY DANCE!

The timing of my new treasure couldn’t be better as I just decided to re-decorate my kitchen. I’m hosing my first graduation open house this year (BOO) and I’m in decorating mode big time. I knew immediately where my precious clock would reside, in my soon-to-be renovated kitchen. Of course, I had to paint her to get her ready for her new home.

I decided to go with Annie Sloan Duck Egg on the outside and Old White for the doors and the inside. I took the top and bottom doors off and painted them white and added some of the Duck Egg to the side on the face of the clock.

Because I’m incorporating a little gold into my make-over, I left the gold edges. I’m not gonna lie, it’s not easy!

Wonder Brush to the rescue! My wonderful friend, Jerra, blessed me with 2 of these babies for my birthday! Let me tell you, they are heavenly! Say goodbye to tape and trying for hours to get perfectly into small spots with your paint. These brushes make a nice straight line and get in the smallest of spots.

I was able to get into the small spots and make clean lines – YAHOO! I actually used Gold Metallic acrylic paint to go over the gold and touch it up. Last, I painted the inside with Old White.

I love my most wonderful new find! In the coming weeks I will reveal the entire kitchen make-over. I wish I didn’t have to sleep so I could just get it all down NOW!

Love you more than thrifty finds, 

Sunday

Cupidity: How to Avoid Stupid Love

You may be surprised to know the Bible has a lot to say about relationships. It doesn’t matter if you’re married, dating or single we can all learn how to do things better. Most of us end up making stupid decisions when it comes to love; check out this message and find out how to avoid them!

Cupidity, “How to Avoid Stupid Love” – Sunday Burquest from Living Word Christian Center on Vimeo.

Don’t you love the still shot that shows up on a video??

Love you more than candy hearts, 

Sunday