So I am writing this post from my hotel room in New York City…just in between Chinatown and Little Italy in Manhattan. I needed a break from the norm. We flew in this afternoon just in time to check into the hotel and catch a cab to Brooklyn for the 3:00 PM service at The Brooklyn Tabernacle. As we were walking to our seats, we saw her. Carol Cymbala. Really. We talked to her. In real life. A. May. Zing.


It got even better. We sat on the third row and were surrounded by people of every age and race. I was worlds away from a typical Sunday in North Carolina. I was amazed at the people. I was amazed that so many different kinds of people had such unity. Hugs for everyone…even strangers. In fact, there were no strangers. Everyone was so inviting. So genuine.

I was soaking it up. I didn’t even want to close my eyes to pray because I was afraid there would one thing (one small detail) that I would miss. I didn’t want to miss a thing.

The service itself was great. There was music and there was preaching. Preaching that was great. Music that was led of the Spirit. I won’t bore you to death the specifics of what songs were sung or what the service was about.

But I will tell you about carrots. During the service, I literally thought about carrots.

My job is usually relaxed. We have a relaxed schedule and can take a lunch break whenever we want. We can also take a breakfast break and/or several snack breaks, too. As long as the work gets done, we are free to be flexible.

However, there are those random days that we are so busy we don’t stop to eat. On these days, we just focus on getting the job done so we can go home. I am so famished by the time I get home that I just open up the refrigerator and grab the first thing I see.

It’s usually baby carrots.

At seven o’clock in the evening after a 12-hour work day and no food, baby carrots can be delicious. They might taste like a savory meal or a sweet dessert…whatever one may be craving at the time.

On any other day, I wouldn’t look twice at that bag of carrots. I would go for the chips and salsa or the popcorn or the buffalo chicken wings or the steak. But when starvation and exhaustion meet at the end of a long day, carrots suddenly seem irresistible.

So maybe that’s where I was today as I sat in the Brooklyn Tabernacle…somewhere between spiritual starvation and spiritual exhaustion.

I have mentioned that we are having issues at my current church and I can’t tell you the last time that I felt “fed.” It seems like I am swimming upstream sometimes. I have been tired. And hungry.

So when I sat in the service today with a guest singer and a guest speaker, I felt like I was “eating” for the first time a really long time. The church wasn’t full. It was the third service of the day, after all. The usual attendees were probably already filled during the other services and maybe they didn’t all return for the service with all of the guest participants.

Compared to where I have been, the third service rocked my world. What might have been just a boring bag of baby carrots to members of the church served as the first meal I have eaten in a while and I savored every bite.

I am refreshed. I am excited for what God has in store for me and my church family in North Carolina. I am no longer hungry or exhausted.

I love carrots.

And incidentally, I came to the conclusion that victory is in Jesus but Jesus is not necessarily in every Victory.

I don’t think I’ve had writers block. I can sit down at my computer and write pages of fluff. I can write and write…but it seems to be irrelevant. It doesn’t contain the purpose that I want my blog to achieve.


So I wait.

And wait.

And I keep waiting for something to hit me. Something great. Something worth writing about. But nothing hits me. In fact, nothing has hit me for over two weeks. And I wonder if God wants me to take a break from writing. I wonder if He has taken my voice. I wonder…

After a few weeks of waiting for “it,” I got it.

Big. Small. Loud. Quiet.

When I feel it and when I don't.

Good days. Bad days. In-between days.

God is the same every day. God is the same no matter what kind of day I am having.

We have been having a hard time at our church. We don’t have a preacher and the current leadership is…questionable. I have grown to dread Sunday’s and Wednesday’s. It has become political and I worry that we are no longer doing God’s work.

I feel drained.

But even in this situation, God is in charge. I believe that He can take this situation and redeem it. That reminds me of that Selah song Unredeemed. It says:

It’s snowing in North Carolina again. There is something exciting about the snow. Something innocent. The snow used to remind me of being a kid and playing with my sister in the yard at our old house; rosy cheeks; big coats; childhood excitement!

Now, it reminds me of something different.

As I watch the snow fall, in the dark, ever so quietly, I am once again reminded of our Christ who entered the world in much the same way.

Without fanfare.

Predicted but no way to know when or how much.

Covering the world’s imperfections.

Making everything beautiful.

If we think about our Savior in terms of the snow, it makes sense that both are white. Both are beautiful. Both can be diminished when man gets involved.

I don’t know about you but I love to see snow….for about the first day. Then, the snow plows come through and make dirty, snowy piles at each corner. Our yards get rampaged with footprints, snow angels and attempts of building a snowman or two.

The snow has been falling here for a few hours. As I look across the backyard, the snow makes me notice things that I have never noticed before: individual tree limbs; the shape of the flower pot; the way the light falls between each flake.

Isn’t that what God does to us? Doesn’t he allow us to see things differently?

I can say from experience, that when Christ has a home in our hearts, the world is much more beautiful. We don’t focus on the negative. We notice things about other people that were previously unnoticed.

When the South is your home, snow forces you to slow down and be still. We aren’t equipped to handle several inches of snow. We just don’t have the machinery to make the roads safe. We stay home and focus on our family.

Be still and know that I am God.

Spring is right around the corner and I am ready for warmer weather. But until then, I am going to watch this snow and be thankful for my Savior. Who was born to save the imperfect; who doesn’t need any help from Man; who gives me a heart to feel things from His perspective; who wants me to be still with Him.

I hope, wherever you are tonight, that you can appreciate the beauty of Christ and that you are blessed with a moment to be still in His presence.

In the beginning

He breathed light

All for love

Jars of Clay

Plans to Prosper

Not to harm

We turned away

Word became flesh

For a while

Our Kinsman Redeemer

Walked through fire

Healed our disease

Stretched His arms

Bled and died

With unfailing Love

Ransomed the lost

Delivered the broken

White as snow

Love so Amazing

We worship forever