mrsannamaher.com

Monday mornings… a beast they can be.

I rolled out of bed and straight into task mode.  Making  a to-do list and throwing laundry in the washer moments later.  As I rushed around thinking of the homework I need to get done,  I suddenly felt so anxious.  What is this Lord?

This is my first acknowledgment of Him this am.  Hmm… perhaps that is the problem?  I wrapped up a couple of tasks and forced myself to sit down and just be still through a worship song.  Not long into it, I felt John 15 beckoning.  I turned to the familiar passage and quickly realized where my anxiety was coming from.

Last night’s message at church was about fear and worry.  I felt convicted of pride and arrogance as I take things into my own hands.  Funny how there are some BIG things that we take to God without even thinking twice, yet so many little things I think I can handle.  How quickly this mindset leads me to an achey back.

The truth is I can only bear fruit when I remain in Him.  I can only do all things through Him who gives me strength.  So, taking Him out of the equation equals a fruitless, anxious me.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

Ah, bittersweet conviction.

He hates to be left out.

This morning I just want to encourage you to dream BIG!  So often we think that dreaming big is a selfish path to go down.  This is not true at all, for when we are at our best, He is most glorified.  Don’t be afraid to step out.  Don’t let fear steal from you any longer, but start to take those unknown steps towards your dreams.  Perhaps they are His dreams as well.

The more I create artistically, the more I begin to understand the mind of our Creator.  When I paint a painting, I want to protect it.  I want to display it.  I want others to enjoy it.  When I write, I want it to touch people deep.  I want to affect people through my creations, and I believe that Creator longs for the same.

Reach deep.

How do you want to affect the world around you?

What makes you excited/mad/happy?

What parts of His heart has he burned deep within you?

Well, enough with reading this blog, go after it!

2010!  WE have arrived at a new year and a new decade.  A whole new era of pop culture, fashion, music, and much more.

As I enter this new year, I have spent sometime praying asking the Lord what are His intentions in and through this life this year.  There is one thing I cannot get away from and it is hope in my heart.

It all started about a week before Christmas.  I arrived at my sisters house for Christmas break.  I hadn’t seen any family since September.  Aubrey, aka the crafter, bounced into her school room and came out with an envelope addressed to “Aunt Anna.”  My name is great, same backwards and forwards.

I opened the envelope to find a cluttered piece of art.  I mean glitter and confetti is sprinkling everywhere, there are letters all over this 3 demential piece, but one thing jumped out at me.  A heart in the very center with the word “hope” written across it.

A couple weeks later I was driving home from the airport, and just felt so much hope in my heart.  I couldn’t get that phrase out of my head.  I got home and got busy and forgot about it.  The next day I was having a quiet time.  I looked on the floor next to my desk and saw a rock.  It was in the shape of heart.  I picked it up and guess what word was written on it? (It was one of my roommates by the way, it didn’t just appear there.:))

So this seems to be my theme for twenty ten!

My 2010 verse is Psalm 84:11

For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.

I pray that your heart is also filled with hope for the good things that the Father has for you this year.  I pray that He is showing you what to focus on this coming year, and preparing your heart for the future and hope He has for you.

Blessings to you this new year!

I was reading through Joshua over Christmas break, when a question struck me.  Ok, so the Israelites made it to the Promised Land.  Phew, now it’s time to kick back in the Land of Milk and Honey, right?  Wrong!  God tells them to ward of any of the -ites who encroach on the land that He has given them.  Now wait a minute God, what’s this about, I asked.

He began to make a parallel for me of what this perhaps represents in our modern world.  You see we (or the Israelites) are called to cultivate the land we live in.  So thanks to Jesus we in the New Covenant have the opportunity to enter into our own promised land flowing with Living Water.  BUT there are giants in this land.  Things that sneak in to steal from our Promised Land.

Now I don’t know what your giants are or even what your Promised Land consists of, but I do know that it is worth the fight.  If it is freedom, don’t let captivity sneak back in.  If it is joy, beware of despair.  If it is faith, watch out for fear.

Here’s the encouraging part, the weapons of our kingdom are much stronger than any weapons this world can throw our way.  Take heart because..

“No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  ‘Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.'”

Joshua 1:5-6

The land is ours, but we must take it!

I am supposed to be doing homework, but feel so much more drawn to decorating, organizing, and getting ready for this new year.  So this is why the blog is a bit abandoned!

Sorry, I do have thoughts towards 2010 and will share them soon…

My six year old niece Aubrey turned six in September.  She insisted on waiting until I got back from California to go ice skating to celebrate.  So we went the other night.  It was a blast.  She chose her cousin Emma, brother Bryson, and friend Libby to come along.  It was so fun to watch these first timers take the ice.

As I watched Libby learn, I was challenged.  You see, Libby was the one to fall the hardest, yet she kept jumping up.  She would barely flinch at her tumbles onto the cold, hard ice.  She quickly figured out how to get her awkward sharp skates behind her and get up by herself.  Libby was unafraid, and more aware of the new adventure at hand than the number of times she fell.

I couldn’t help but think about the ministry training I am currently doing.  One of the leaders says, we must fail 3x before we can pass the school. They tell us faith is spelled R-I-S-K.  We need to be able to take risks in order to really see His kingdom come here on earth as it is in Heaven.

By the end of the night, Libby was barely holding out in the wall, and spending most of her time in the middle of the ice.  We practically had to pull her off the ice to eat dinner (after and hour and a half, with no break).  Her falls were few and far between.  She learned the art of balancing.

And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 18:3

Emma, Ethan, and I braved the mall, a movie, and lunch today!  We had a great time.  I love being Aunt Anna.

Tonight we painted with watercolors.  Everybody loved it.  I think Bryson did 4! I am shocked that he sat still that long.

I did make an attempt to get a card out, but it seems to be failing terribly.  So here it is…

I pray that your are richly blessed this season with all the goodness of our Savior in every way.  I pray that you and your family will encounter His in new ways.  May you heart be filled with child-like wonder at how amazing He is!

I got to go sledding yesterday!  I am well aware of the fact that I am no longer technically a child, believe me my muscles are practically screaming this at me today!   Nonetheless, it was so much fun.  The snow was falling freshly dusting everything stark white.  It was breathtaking.  It only took an hour to get to this little slice of Narnia.  Funny in several ways I feel that this little adventure parallels things God is teaching me.

1. DREAM BIGGER!  C.S. Lewis has painted a picture of a place, Narnia, that has come alive in thousands if not millions of imaginations.  It is not a place we have really seen or characters we have really met, yet somehow he is such a crafted artist that it all feels so real.  His paintbrush perhaps a pencil has left imprints on our imaginations.  May this life dream bigger than the things I can see with my eyes.  May I learn how to dream with One so much greater than I, and may those dreams dramatically shape future realities.

2. COMMUNITY MATTERS.  Initially we took on the hill, one by one.  Then we had the brilliant idea to go together.  It’s weird, it seems so much riskier.  You run the risk of 2 concussions versus one, right?  However I felt so much safer when I had someone with me for the crazy ride.  We even tried, emphasis on tried, to go down 5 at a time.  What a comfort in knowing that come what may, I was not alone.  I am so incredibly blessed to have amazing relationships to do life and ministry with, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way!

3. DON’T EVER STOP BEING A KID.  Kids have an incredible ability to live in the moment they are in.  There is a wonder in their eyes at all that lays before them.  They hop on that sled before thinking twice, while we analyze how many possible obstacles could hinder our ability to sail to the bottom.  They have endless energy and incomparable ability to hop up after a crash. (I find getting up especially tricky in winter gear, and frankly find the snow quite soft and comforting…)

Sweet Jesus, make me like a child, connect me with the right relationships, and teach me to dream bigger.