The Good We Ought to Do

When I was in high school, it was not big deal at all for me to ditch my plans immediately when it came to getting the attention of a boy. I would drop my plans with a girlfriend in seconds flat. I believe that it even go to the point to where they wouldn't be surprised at all when I said "something came up."

Now, I am a testy lady. I find myself tired most days, and I am definitely not a morning person. Someone can say one sentence to me and it takes every fiber in my being to not throw knives at them, or lash out into a rage. (To be honest). However, most days I can give a neutral reaction, though that is far from my nature at the time. I walk away patting myself on the back saying, "you just saved their life."

But now I'm thinking, what if (with the power of Christ) I went beyond "neutral" and found my reactions to be a "10" on the encouraging scale. No, it's not in my nature. But scripture tells me that I should say things that build people up and benefit those who listen.

I know in my little brain that I should encourage, but instead, I am neutral.

It may seem insignificant.

But I just read James 4:17 which says, "Anyone, then who knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, to him it is sin."

In this context, to the best of my knowledge James is talking to the wealthy people who have a lot of money with which they could choose to either do good, or to be selfish.

The principle we can take from this text is that if there is good to be done, we ought to do it.

One night last week my husband and I were watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. I love that show. I cry and cry because deserving people get treated to something nice they could never afford on their own. My husband, though, was enraged and said "This show shouldn't even be necessary. The church should be doing this." (He's a wise man).

I could go on with examples, but my point is that there is good to be done

In the name of Christ.

What is the good you ought to be doing?




Oh, Happy Halloween!!!

Why the Inconsistency?

Sometimes in life, we just can't get a grip on who we want to be. We feel a pull between "good" and "evil" contstantly. We want to pursue God, but sin get a hold on our affections and we can't look away.


We do thing like worship on Sundays and then go away and talk bad about our friend or sister in Christ. In James, he says that someone who does that is "double-minded" and "unstable." Ouchie, James. That hurts.

We do things like Praise Jesus and promote modesty all year long, until Halloween comes around, then we like to show the things our Mamma gave us.

We do things like sleep an extra hour instead of spending time with the Lord.

I know it's a struggle that is not easily overcome, but when we TRULY seek his face, ladies, we will find HIM. When we find him we don't need extra sleep, to talk bad about people, or to show off what our Mamma gave us to get attention from males (disgraceful attention, I might add).

I feel this battle in my life every day. I know more and more what a ridiculous human being I am. Ya know what I'm saying? Do you ever get to the end of the day and feel like this:




Even Paul said "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I do I hate." (Romans 7:15, NIV)

Do you ever find yourself here?

Paul was writing my heart's song right here. I keep crying out "Lord please change me."

I will say, the change comes, but it's ever so slow.

And it is with ever so much purpose that I cannot understand.

The Lord is truly working in us when we ask him do. I long for the day that you can I can do the things we want and not do the thing we don't want. Until then, I urge all of us to earnestly seek his face and flee sin.



Flee Immodesty



Flee Gossip



Flee Laziness



Flee Sin.



Lord, we Need You.

For Mr. Hickman

Today as I was sitting beside my husband eating lunch, I picked up my bread, which was a little brown for my taste, and began to break it apart to dip it in my tomato sauce. As I was breaking it, I realized that it was rather crunchy. At that moment, my husband reached over and told me to trade him pieces of bread. He did this because his was nice and moist.

This moment was one of beauty. I could have wept, but  I held it back. Why? Because in that moment I knew that I was known by him.  He knows I don't like crunchy bread. It wasn't the crunchy bread. I would have eaten it and moved on with my life, but by trading me bread he was saying "I see your desires and I'm doing what I can to provide for them."

I've been reading a lot of things lately about love, sex, and relationships. The most common theme I am recognizing in my reading is that when it comes to "love," every human being just has a desire to be known.

Someone a lot smarter than me, Dannah Gresh, wrote a book called What are You Waiting For?: The One Thing No One Ever Told You About Sex. 

In this lovely and honest book she discusses this truth, that the desire to be know sometimes leads hurting people to physical sex that isn't fulfilling and leaves them damaged. She discusses the connotation of the Hebrew word "yada" that means "to know, to be known, to be deeply respected." Gresh points out that this is the desire of the human heart and how to overcome damage done in the past. I reccomend this book to any high school or college age young woman whether she has struggled with sexual sin or not.

Even as a married woman, this book has resonated with me and I am still discovering my deep desire to be known and deeply respected by the love of my life. I am also discovering the importance of knowing and respecting him.

Mostly I am writing this blog because I want the world to know how I love and appreciate Mr. Lucas Hickman, the poor soul who has been married to me for 4 months yesterday. I'm so grateful for his effort to know and look out for my every need every minute. I'm also thankful for such a fun best friend.

Thank you, dear. Happy 4 month-a-versary (a day late).

I love you.

(And to everyone else, stay tuned tomorrow for the top 5 things I have learned in the last 4 months, some really funny, some very serious heart matters).

You're all swell too.

But here is a picture of myself and my love in Hawaii...

Have a happy day, friends. I know I am.