Don't Hold Back

We recently returned from our first Lowry family road trip of the summer! My sister lives in California and is home visiting this summer, so we try to cram as much family fun in as possible. Growing up I always loved road trips. I loved the feeling of adventure and the quality time it provided with my family. This trip did not disappoint! There was lots of fun and laughing! It also was preparing us for our next road trip later this month, which will be quite a bit longer.

This trip we stayed a couple of nights at one of our favorite beaches, Longboat Key, but the main reason for heading down there was to visit my Aunt Mary Ann.  She is in an Alzheimers home and it is always such a joy to visit! I love going and listening to the stories about she and my dad when they were growing up and I always learn new things about them I didn't know before. I never met my grandparents on my dad's side of the family, so I love learning anything I can about them. For instance, this trip I learned from my Aunt Mary Ann that my grandmother loved to play tennis! I love seeing my aunt laugh as old stories are being told, but most of all I love seeing how she lights up when you talk about the Lord.  I love how tender her heart is towards Him. It was my aunt who invited my dad to a prayer meeting where he was radically saved. As we were talking, Jon said to her, "you know, if you had never invited John (my dad) to that prayer meeting where he met the Lord, none of us would be where we are." And he went on to explain, if he had not had that encounter with the Lord, he probably would have never met my mom, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have married Jon.  She responded by saying, "you never know what one little thing will do for someone, so don't hold back!"

That quote really stuck with me.  How many times do we hold back because we are afraid of what people think? Or how many times do we have a passing thought of something that could bless or encourage someone but we never act on it? So many times it's not just a passing thought it is actually the Holy Spirit speaking to us and we just ignore it because we are afraid or even too busy to stop and think about those around us.  I want to be one that doesn't hold back. One who, when someone is on my mind I check on them or encourage and pray for them. One who smiles at a stranger. One who encourages a mom at the grocery store and tells her she's doing a great job. One who pays for the coffee of the car behind them in the Starbucks line just to bless them. One who, like my aunt, is not afraid to invite someone to a prayer meeting. Let's look around today and listen to what the Holy Spirit might be prompting us to do. Let's be bold and courageous. Let's learn to have compassion for those around us. Let's learn to not just think about it, but have the courage to act on it. Because, "you never know what one little thing will do for someone, so DON'T HOLD BACK!"

My dad and my Aunt Mary Ann from a few months ago

Views from our condo

Waiting for sunset

Watching the sunset is our favorite thing
at Longboat Key!
This year did not disappoint!

Pictures from last year's sunset

Hope

One of the hardest things I have seen over the years is to watch individuals lose hope. Hope is such a vital part of our lives and is a foundation stone on which our lives are built. When we become hopeless the rest of our house starts to crumble. Hope is the joyful anticipation of good things. It is the expectation that good is going to happen. Hope is a gift from the Lord. It is born out of the revelation that He is a good Father and has only good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). Out of that revelation we start anticipating His goodness. 

The best way I know how to describe it is a child on Christmas Eve.  They go to bed with hope and excitement about what is under the tree on Christmas morning and wake up with joy and elation of what they have been hoping for. They were anticipating good things. They weren't wishing for good things because hope is not wishing. It's not our lucky dice that we are rolling wishing something good will happen. Hope is anticipation. It's that excited feeling of knowing good things are about to happen.

Proverbs 13:12  says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life" (NLT). It's important to understand that unfulfilled dreams doesn't make our heart sick. It is when we stop joyfully anticipating those dreams coming to pass that our heart becomes sick. Hopelessness will make us sick physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It is a virus that will spread throughout our whole being. Hopelessness is an enemy that wants to devour our whole life. Hope, on the other hand, breathes life into us. It gives us a reason to live. It makes everyday like Christmas morning. It causes us to love life, to enjoy it. It allows us to dream and to wake up everyday with a purpose. So let's hope! Let's go to bed every night like its Christmas Eve and wake up running down the hall, excited about what He has for us today! 

If It's Hard...

One of the workouts we do during the week is Daily Burn. It's a new fun workout everyday and it encourages and inspires us to live a healthy lifestyle. The other day, one of the trainers said, "If it's hard, that means something inside is changing." We've all heard similar phrases with fitness like, "no pain, no gain" and other cliches. But, when I heard the trainer say this, I started thinking about more than just my workout.

"If it's hard, that means something inside is changing."

I started thinking of some of the hard and painful things I have had to walk through and then what I look like now on the other side. I started thinking of my relationship with the Lord and how much deeper it is because I have walked through hardship and had to rely totally on Him. And, as hard as those times were, I am so grateful for what has changed in me and what my relationship with the Lord looks like now compared to how it was before those times. 

I think sometimes, especially for those of us who have been in the church a long time, we have a lot of head knowledge, but not a lot of experience or heart change. I can learn about the Lord and memorize Scripture, but sometimes it is not until I am tested that it begins to take root. I can read, believe and know that He is my Comforter, but it takes on a much deeper meaning when I actually have to walk through something where I need to be comforted by Him. It's in the times when it's hard, yet I make the choice to press into Him that change happens and the truths in the Bible become even more real to me. 

So many times we want to run from hardship, pain, hurt, disappointment, failure, etc., but if I run away from it or quit, change will never happen in me. When I face the pain head-on with my Daily Burn workout, my muscles become stronger, and when I face the pain head-on in life, holding on to Jesus, my relationship with Him becomes stronger and I get to actually experience the amazing truths in the Word and His freedom first hand! 

How much hurt, pain, and sadness do we live with for years and years that weigh us down because we are too scared to face it head-on. What if we didn't quit when things were hard? What if we didn't run from pain? Sometimes we just need to take small baby steps forward.  If I am wanting to do 50 push-ups but can only do 3, I have to learn to take baby steps forward to reach my goal. If I stop at 3 every time because that's what is comfortable, I will never reach my goal. It's when I do 4, 5 or 6, even when it hurts, that change starts to happen and I get stronger. We have to learn to take a step forward in our pain to see change happen. 

I love reading Psalms to see how David presented his pain and suffering to the Lord. I love how he was so raw in expressing what he was going through, but most of all I love how he always ended with, "but, You, Lord..." and would declare the promises of the Lord.  Psalm 13 out of the Passion Translation starts with, "I am hurting, Lord" but ends with, "I will sing my song of joy to You, the Most High, for in all this You have strengthened my soul."

I am learning to face the pain in life knowing that in all of it, He is strengthening my soul and drawing me closer to Him. I am learning that, just like David, it is possible to sing a song of joy in the midst of hardship. I am learning to stand on the promise of hope, joy, and freedom beyond what I can imagine as I face the pain and hand it to Him. I am so grateful for what He has done in my life!

In James out of The Message it says, "Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get His help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it."

Let's make the decision to refuse to quit when things get hard. Let's choose to not be afraid or ashamed of pain. Let's declare His promises over our lives.  Let's be encouraged that "if it's hard, that means something inside is changing." And with Him, it is always changing for the better!

Ha Ha Ha

Have you ever stopped to think how crazy laughter is? I mean, strictly from a scientific standpoint, it causes air to expel from your mouth in unpredictable, weird patterns, your stomach muscles contract and you make odd noises out of your mouth. Sometimes it cause liquid to literally come out of your eyes. You can laugh so hard your body temperature rises and you can't catch your breath. You do odd things sometimes like bend over and cover your face while your body shakes, or just start clapping and throw your head way back and make noises like, bwahahaahhohohehehha. I mean from a strictly biological stand point it is an odd gifting we all have. But, boy, does it feel really, really good . I'm not meaning chuckling a little. I mean stomach hurting, tears falling, body shaking, uncontrollable laughter feels amazing physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It's so weird how it works and yet God invented it. Think about that. The creator of the universe decided that we needed to have inside of us this ability called laughter. The Bible says we were created in His image (Gen. 1:27) which means we laugh because He laughed first. He is the Father of laughter. He laughs more than any of us.  Hebrews says Jesus was anointed with the oil of Joy above his companions (Heb. 1:9).  That means he was way happier than anyone else on earth. We were created to laugh. I mean really laugh. I won't get into all of the scientific studies that have been done on the health benefits of laughter, but needless to say it is imperative that we laugh daily. Laughter is a God-given gift. We were born with it and it comes natural to us. We have to unlearn how to laugh. Whether through our circumstances or upbringing or just life in general. It takes years to unlearn how to laugh, but we were never meant to go through life without it. It was given to us for our well being, for our health, for our relationship with Him. It was given to help us navigate life. So let's re-awaken laughter inside of us. Watch a funny movie or YouTube clip. Hang out with someone that makes you laugh a lot. But, by all means, laugh and laugh hard!

Don't Worry, Be Happy

What would it look like to not worry? Worry by definition is: "a state of anxiety or unease over real issues". It places us in a perpetual state of anxiety, fear and dread usually over things we can not control. I believe we have created a culture of worry in the world. We worry about everything from our families, our money, our neighbors, our life to our political leaders, our nation and the world. The list could go on and on. We say things all the time like: "you know what worries me?" or "I am worried about....." or "I'm your parent so I'm supposed to worry" or "I'm just a worry wart". The point is not only have we created a culture of worry, but we also wear it like a badge of honor as part of who we are. That is just silly. Here is the problem with that. Jesus told us not to worry. He didn't say not to worry about certain things, but He said not to worry, period. His exact quote: "do not worry about this life" (Luke 12:22). You can't get much clearer than that. He went on to explain that if His Father takes care of the birds of the air then He will take care of us. He asked, "what one person has added even an hour to their life by worrying?" He made it pretty clear that worry is not allowed. 

You see, the reason worry is not allowed is because worry is the enemy of trust. Trust is a foundation stone that we stand on the minute we meet Jesus. We are not just asked to trust, we are mandated to. When we worry, we are replacing our foundation on which we stand and end up crumbling. Trust and worry are both founded in faith. It is why they are both powerful. Worry is not a lack of faith. Worry is sign of misplaced faith. It says that I have more faith in bad happening than faith that He will work things out for my good (Romans 8:28). It's a big deal because with faith we can move mountains (Matthew 17:20, Mark 11:23). In order for us to grow in the Lord and to be able to stand firm in Him, worry must be eliminated from our life. It cannot be allowed or even tolerated. It is our enemy that wants us constantly uneasy and on shaky ground. It must be defeated. 

Worry is defeated when I trust. I can't worry and trust at the same time. When I trust Him, it opens the doors of my heart to peace.  Peace is what I was designed to live in. Peace surpasses understanding and literally guards my heart and mind (Philippians 4:7). That means peace is militaristic in nature. It guards, protects and keeps the enemy out. Peace is powerful, but peace is born out of trust. It can't guard if it doesn't exist in our lives. So, I feel like the question He is asking isn't "can you trust Me?",  the question He is asking is "WILL you trust Me?"

Welcome

One of the definitions of the word life is: vitality, vigor or energy. We love that! Everyday life should consist of those three things. Jesus said he came to give life and that we would have it more abundantly. Jesus came so we could have a vigorous and active life and have it over and above what is necessary for us. What an amazing promise!

We started this blog because we believe in living out that promise. Welcome to our place to share thoughts, insights and life experiences. We love life!!! It is a gift to enjoy and be happy in. It is adventurous, crazy, hard, fun and only given to us once. We hope this blog inspires you to take hold of life and run with it. We hope it challenges you to find joy in every single day, and ultimately we hope it draws you into a deeper relationship with a loving Heavenly Father who wants you to be able to actively enjoy this life. Whether it's sharing what we are learning, memories, struggles, excitement and adventures that this amazing life brings us, we hope this blog will inspire you to live life with joy and happiness and live every day to its full potential.