I Don't Want To Be Guilt Tripped

I went to Jesus Culture Conference this past weekend, which I'm sure would surprise no-one-ever by my social media activity. 

This was my second time going, and both times have been absolutely amazing. Worshipping along with so many other Jesus lovers, and hearing incredibly inspiring and passion inducing messages? Can't beat it. I'm pretty sure the Jesus Culture experience is a little slice of heaven. And if so, I'm pumped. 

At one point on the first night, a man came on stage to speak about a featured organization, Feed The Children. He shared a story about his experience with the hunger and poverty epidemic, and then he invited the audience to get involved. He set loose volunteers carrying packets symbolizing children across various countries needing financial sponsors, and as he did, my arm shot up. 

In that moment, I learned a very clear lesson about myself. 

I don't want to be guilt tripped. 

 The truth is, as this man spoke on stage, I only half listened. If I'm being honest, I had heard the spiel before. I had heard the grip-your-heart stories about world poverty, and the touching testimonies of the impact of ____ dollars per day. I have an incredibly sensitive heart that is often quick to grab my check book, so when moments like this happen, I've learned to put the brakes on. I've learned to put my guard up, and check to make sure I'm responding wisely, and not just out of emotion. 

It's true, I don't want to be guilt tripped. And I see the wisdom in that. I see that I'm only given finite finances, and while I wish I could support everything, I can't. I have to discern what is the best use of my resources, what I'm called to invest in and support, not be driven by guilt or impulse. 

That being said, I realized something this weekend. I recognized that I don't want to be guilt tripped, but

I do want to be God-tripped. 

If I'm too busy running my race to check out the opportunity passing me by, I want to be God-tripped. If I'm so stuck in my routine that I mindlessly make decisions, I want to be God-tripped. I give God full permission to stick that speed bump right in front of my path so that I slow down enough to hear His voice. And if I'm not hearing? 

Please, God, trip me. 

This weekend, I got tripped. Zero part of me expected to sign up for a monthly giving plan, but something in my heart moved. I may not have heard all of the details of the man's story, but I've seen my own. I've seen the children in Africa lining up for medical attention, only for 90% of them to be diagnosed with malnutrition. I've seen them beg for food and water, and while keeping my hand down at a conference might be easy, rejecting a hungry child is hard. 

Something in my heart jumped as I did the math, and realized that even if it didn't add up, it didn't matter, I was doing this. As my hand raised without hesitation, I silently prayed that God would intentionally choose my child. And guys, when I saw her? I cried. 

Christians can have a reputation of getting taken advantage for their generosity. We can be known for mindlessly giving, because we're called to. And really, I don't mind if I seem to add to that stereotype one bit. But here's the thing: 

I'm not guilt-tripped, I'm God-tripped. 

And I pray that He never stops tripping me. 

That Time I Met Francis Chan

Finally sitting down to write the post I've been meaning to write for 2 weeks now, hooray! Before I get to the part about meeting Francis Chan, I just have to take a moment to start at the beginning. Aka, I get to gush about my friendship with this one:

God is so intentional with our friendships. They come into our lives at just the perfect times, with so much purpose. I met Heidi through an equally God-ordained friendship, with my at-the-time coworker, Kali. 

It was almost 2 years ago that we all met, and it's crazy to think of the ways we've all changed since then. Heidi and I were mere acquaintances until our friendship really deepened towards the end of last year. 

It was one of those things where every sentence resulted in a "me, too!" Such a sweet blessing to meet someone with such similar struggles, yet similar convictions as well. An understanding that allows for honest confession, that is always met with a push closer to Jesus. 

God has used her friendship in my life in so many ways, it's such a fruitful and blessed thing. And among our many, many things in common, we both became huge Francis Chan fans after hearing him speak at Catalyst. When we found out he was doing a free {yes, free} conference in LA, we just had to jump on that opportunity. 

We stalked googled, and found out he was speaking on Friday night. So what else are two Francis fans to do, but spontaneously road trip it LA for the night to listen to what was sure to be an amazing, impactful message. 

We were not disappointed!

Just walking up, everyone was so incredibly friendly. We felt welcomed as though we knew everyone already, even though we knew no one. Walking up, many of the close seats were already taken. Though neither of us were intentionally seeking it out, we happened to find some open front row seats. 

Seats that a mere ten or fifteen minutes later, were just a handful over from Francis himself! {!!!}

{insert fan girl moment}

Of course we had to say hello, and ask for a picture. He was so kind and humble, even as we gushed over how much we loved his Catalyst message just the month before. 

It was truly a blessing from God, getting to meet the man who has encouraged both of us so much in our walk with the Lord. 

The rest of the evening can only be described as an overwhelming encounter with the Spirit. The opening worship: so good. The message: so good. The closing worship: off. the. hook. 

Francis poured out the truth that "when you are secure in your relationship with God, and about how He feels about you, the little things don't bother you anymore." And with that profound statement, he invited us to pray over one another. He invited those of us feeling secure in the understanding of God's love for us to pray over those who craved that security for themselves. 

The Holy Spirit said "go." And so I did. People flooded that carpet for prayer, for an encounter with the Lord. I was reminded of the numerous times that I myself have begged the Lord for more understanding of His vast love for me, and I laid hands on my brothers and sisters, and asked for just that. 

Guys, I can't put into words what happened in that room. 

All I can say is I want more of it. 

I hope that today, you are feeling secure in God's love for you. Like Francis said, it changes

everything. 

If you're not, and you'd like to, please let me know. I would love to pray for you in that. Shoot me an e-mail if you'd like {sweethomesbblog@gmail.com}, because my dear friends, there is serious power in prayer. 

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is."

Ephesians 3:18

Happy Tuesday, loves. <3

Priceless

On Monday I mentioned that I went to a Women's Conference this past weekend, and yesterday I blogged about how I met your mother Sherry. 

What do these things have in common? Well, Sherry is the friend who invited me to the Women's Conference! And boy, am I glad that she did!

There's just nothing like a room full of women who love God. 

I walked in knowing no one (I got there before Sherry), and was greeted with so many hugs and warm smiles. I gave up on the whole hand shake thing, because clearly these were hugging ladies. 

Which was wonderful because so am I. 

The theme of the conference was Priceless, which is exactly what the weekend was. 

Every single message spoke straight to my heart. Every. single. one. 

***

We discussed the priceless promises of our God, and specifically how Jesus promises us that there is only one thing worth caring about on this Earth. And no, it's not food or work or exercising or cleaning or any of the other things that I tend to stress about on the reg. 

It's our Heavenly Father. 

And Jesus took this one step further and promised that time spent with our Heavenly Father will not be taken away from us. After all, spending time worrying about things of this world will never add to our life, will it? But time with Jesus will!

***

We got a renewed sense of priceless perspective. Those problems that we face on an every day basis? Believe it or not, we can choose to be thankful for those problems and consider them priceless. Why? Because problems in your life can bring you closer to Jesus.

And it's a lot easier to keep that positive mindset as your facing your problems when you're facing them with your priceless partners. 

Hey all you wonderful blogger friends! You better believe that you are some of my priceless partners :)

***

We studied the priceless peace that Jesus can give us, and reminded ourselves how appreciative we should be of this peace that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. 

We are called to be peace makers, but in order to be this, we need to first accept the peace that comes from our Savior. 

***

At the end of the weekend, we were all returning home with some more priceless passion for our incredible calling to be a part of our Father's kingdom. 

And not only that, but I returned home with many wonderful new friends. 

So thankful for our amazing God. His unfailing love is priceless.