Vacation!

Don't we all love a good vacation? This week is spring break and I've been counting down for quite awhile. Considering I've spent the week cleaning out closets and looking for a part-time job for the summer, it hasn't been particularly restful. But there's something great about taking a step back from my usual roles and doing something different!

One of my favorite passages is Psalm 55

"Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest - I would flee far away and stay in the desert: I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm."

I have often thought that David has the right idea - particularly if that's a desert spa he's talking about!

It's been almost a year since I started this blog...and a year since I started praying for a 'God-sized vision' to encompass my life. I had no idea what that prayer would bring me...just that I wanted to live more than an ordinary life.

This week, a devotional that I wrote years ago for a college Bible study has kept coming to mind. Ephesians 1:18-19 says, "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know His....incomparably great power for us who believe."

Out of any week of the year, this should be the week that we focus on God's power. The power to raise someone from the dead is miraculous and amazing and BIG. Yet that verse in Ephesians says that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available for us as God's children.

Think of what we could accomplish if we lived with the confidence that God's power lives in us. How often do we squelch that power with feelings of self-doubt? "My singing voice isn't good enough to sing a solo. My energy level isn't high enough to work with kids on Weds night. My speaking abilities aren't good enough to lead a Bible study..."

But maybe that's exactly what God wants. He wants us to work from our weaknesses. Because it's when we say, "I can't," that God turns around and says, "Oh you bet you can" and produces a miracle. Through God's power we have the ability to:

• Be Creative (God created everything - and we are made in His image.)
• Speak Words of Life (Proverbs 18:21)
• Overflow with Hope and Be Filled with Joy and Peace (Romans 15:13)
• Have Strength, Endurance and Patience (Colossians 1:11)
• Have Everything We Need for Life (2 Peter 1:3)
• Endure Hardships (2 Corinthians 4:7)

Live in Power this week. Don't be afraid or ashamed or feel inadequate. You are God's precious chosen child and He has empowered you to live an extraordinary life.