Itty Bitty Faith

This has been a hard year. Personally, that is...

My church, Faith Community Lutheran in Las Vegas
my spiritual home... a place of peace
and hope and love. A blessing.

Things are moving forward career-wise. I had a book come out in April. Another one coming out in November. And there's a new deal I'll be announcing (I hope) by the end of this month. So from a career perspective, I have no reason to complain.

But back to that personal stuff...

It's been brutal. I'm keeping the details to myself right now. God may release me one day to share it all, but today isn't that day. What's important is that I've been letting personal crisis and struggle beat me down.

I've had itty, bitty faith.

There are times when my faith blooms a bit... I know God will get me through. But for the most part, my faith is so small... I'm convinced there's no way out. That I've passed a point of no return and all I can do is surrender to it, to get as comfortable as possible in my discomfort.

I heard a pastor once tell this story... a travelling salesman visited a farmer one day. The man was sitting on his porch in a rocking chair, comfy as can be. On the other side of the porch was a hound dog, stretched out lazy and half asleep on his side. The salesman was telling the farmer about the great deal he had when the dog moved a little and whimpered. The dog wiggled, then went back to sleep. The salesman kept talking, but a minute later, the dog did the same thing. It happened a few more times, and finally, the salesman asked, "Is your dog all right? It sounds like he's in pain."

The farmer shook his head and smiled. "Naw, he's fine. He's lying on a nail and he's too lazy to move off it."

I've been a hound dog lying on a nail. And you know... it's time to get up and move.

It's time to do something different. It's time to know that God doesn't need me to be a woman of great, mountain-moving faith in order to move in my life. God has everything I need. He just wants me to start living in it.

So I share with you today my desire to live in God's grace and mercy. If you're a praying person, I ask you to consider sending up a prayer that God will constantly remind me that HIS power and grace and love are sufficient for me, regardless how much faith I feel at any given moment.

And friends, I pray for all of you. That you will know how much God loves you, no matter what the circumstance. And He doesn't want a single one of His children taking naps on nails.