Category: Christian living

Learning From The Youth

Mihaela Echols16 Comments

The more I hang out with these kids the more I learn on how to be a good parent. I am very open with these kids asking them questions that I hope to note and carry for mine and Peters when they are teens.

I know some kids just say bad stuff about their parents for attention. But I’m talking about the kids who stay out of trouble but still have broken hearts. You never see it on their faces. It’s when I get the rare opportunity to hear their heart because I am that person who won’t judge them and will just sit and listen.

All they want is for someone to listen.

Sometimes my heart breaks and I hope to never hear the same words from my own.

Peter and I have talked about being open with our kids from the start. Discussing why they might want to dye there hair blue could be a topic that some parents won’t even want at the table. But for us that topic seems so minor. We want the heavy and real topics that could ache our hearts if our kids for some reason does not want to follow the Lord and ask them why. We want the real relationship where we can openly pray with them.

I don’t want my kids to hide their tears from me. I want more attention then their journal gets. If I have to find out our my kid has thoughts of suicide in a journal, then Peter and I have failed as parents.

I am learning that even if our kids are raised in a Christian home they still make their own choices. We cannot control them. We can only manage and pray. At the end of the day they are accountable to God and lifes consequences.

As we seek God pray for us when it will be our turn to become parents.

 

Dear Embarrassing Parents

Daughter, I’m Here Now

 

 

 

 

God’s Ministry NOT Mine

Mihaela Echols14 Comments

Galatians 6:7-9

There was a time in my life I honestly thought I was just bad at ministry.

I felt very unorganized and wondered why I was even put in leadership. No matter how hard or advanced I would plan things they would be getting done last minute.

I remember a conversation with a friend going something like this….

“Jessica I don’t understand it. I’m a very organized person. Shoot I have adults who look up to me outside of ministry, but when it comes to ministry I’m all over the place I don’t get it!”

Jessica and I do ministry together. She has seen me serve in the church. If it was anyone who would be honest with me it would be her. That’s what good friends do. They tell you the truth even if you don’t want to hear it.

“Your not bad at it…its people. Your working with people and people are people.”

What she meant by that was people get sick , or busy so they cant answer the phone for follow ups. Schedules get in the way of appointments or they might forget to get back to you. It’s not intentional its just things happen.

Hmmm……

Then it clicked.

Why am I expecting perfection in something that isn’t even mine? It’s Gods.

Ministry is Gods. It’s his job to reach peoples hearts. I am just the tool.

Every project that I had planned six months in advance and then scrambled around the week of to get the details figured out have turned out. People were still blessed. It just wasn’t done the way I would do it. There are days I would walk into my Sunday school room holding the lesson I planned weeks ahead but then teach on something completely different. 

Again not how I would do it. But ministry has to be flexible. Why? Because it’s meeting peoples hearts. In other words I need to get out of Gods way and let him do his work.

 

Pardon my progress.

 

 

Me Monster

Mihaela Echols16 Comments

   Hyla Chamberlain

    When my eyes are off of myself others eyes turn to God. 

   Our flesh steals the testimony of God. It consumes our conversations and our thoughts. It is the monster inside us battling for more of us and less of Him.

Romans 7:14-25

    I see it in myself when my conversations are all about me and not of what God is doing in me. When I concern myself with who is reading my writings and I forget the motive behind writing them….

    When I get frustrated when ministry is not going at my pace….

    The list goes on. 

    These past few days have been my selfish days of letting the “Me Monster” win. I have been stressed and frustrated at letting the little silly things build up inside.

But, today I am reading this: 

Galatians 5:1
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves
be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

       I’ll say it again, when my eyes are off of myself others eyes turn to God.

Believers have a testimony that our flesh wants to silence. But the verse above tells us we don’t have to live by the flesh anymore because we have Christ living in us, working in us, and transforming us everyday.

Here we are in this moment with our choice before us:

Our flesh or Christ

I Am Overwhelmed

Mihaela Echols42 Comments

    I begin to tear up as I look through pictures and prayer journals packing for my next move. Memories dance.

Who am I, oh Lord, that you have brought me so far?

    Whether I choose to follow Christ or not my life is a miracle. (The Hardest Story to Tell) I don’t know the hurt girl in these journal entries. She is a stranger. 

   Meeting me a few years back and meeting me now I only hope people see a change of heart. A woman who’s lifestyle is a walking testimony.

Who am I, oh Lord, that you have brought me so far? 

    I am overwhelmed by Gods grace and how he has restored my heart again and again–how he chooses us again and again. How he fought for our very souls. How we are worth something to him.

Who am I, oh Lord, that you are bringing me so far? 

I feel like David in this prayer. I am so overwhelmed by the Lord’s love.

Psalm 8:3-4

“When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?”

  God loved us before we came to be. He chose us then, on the cross and is choosing us now.  I am overwhelmed. Despite where I am from, what I have done, the thoughts I’ve thought, the horrible things I have wanted to do, he still wants me. As I allow God to work in my heart, he patiently breaks it, molds it, then breaks it again making me more like him. This is our life long journey he wants to take with us. 

Who am I oh Lord that you are bringing me so far?

Although the constant battles of my flesh hide within my heart; I remember he broke my chains when I chose him. I don’t have to be the old girl of past. She is a stranger. She is dead. She is forgiven. She is redeemed. She is made new. 

Who am I oh Lord that you have brought me so far?

Written July 3rd, 2015

Just An Idea

Mihaela Echols2 Comments

                       ProjectHope2    

        It didn’t come from and audible calling from God, or in a dream it was simply an idea. Last fall of 2013 my church, West Sound Community Church was brainstorming ways to reach out to the community. My church in Minnesota would do gift bags for people in jail every year for Christmas and I thought “Why not West Sound?” I ended up getting the number of the lieutenant from the dad of the little girl I nanny for; he is an officer. Then I finally decided to tell Ricki, my pastor the idea.

       That December, West Sound Community church delivered four hundred and fifty gift bags to the people in jail of Kitsap County. Not only are we reaching out to those in jail, but also their families, the officers who are handing out the bags, and everyone who hears about it. This is a simple act of showing God’s love.

     As word got out the Chaplin of the jail contacted me asking if we could bring in Bibles. Of course! Each person he works with receives a study Bible, a book mark with a verse on it, and an encouraging note in the Bible from a member at West Sound. I was also contacted by the juvenile center and have been bringing in treats every month since February 2014 for the kids. My hope is that both ministries will grow and God will keep using West Sound as time goes on.

    West Sound has been a huge encouragement to me as I am continuing on with this ministry through prayer, finances, and words of encouragement. It was simply an idea and I let God do the rest. 

Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

To support: write a check to Project Hope

At 2356 NW Rude Rd, Poulsbo, WA 98370

https://hylachamberlain.wordpress.com/2014/12/20/project-hope-what-is-it/

Bible On The Bottom

Mihaela Echols7 Comments

I was cleaning my room one Saturday morning when I had noticed I had a few books on the floor, but they were stacked. It wasn’t the fact they were on the floor that made me think and question where my life was at. It was the fact that my Bible was on the bottom of my work out log and my planner. Now I realize people stack books biggest on bottom and smallest on top, but that wasn’t my case. I had realized that my books were in the order of my importance. Notice the first books were about me, and then there’s Gods word on the bottom. Why?  Because I had put God there. 

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Stopping in my tracks I stared at the books knowing what book should of been on top. It wasn’t intentional but it was definitely eye opening to the way I’ve been living my life. I had put my desires and plans above what God has for me. 

Psalm 37:4

“Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

Mirror mirror on the wall whose the fairest of them all?

Mihaela Echols2 Comments

Walking in a high school or middle school  bathroom I see girls putting on make up, and getting their hair ready to face the cruel world once again. But what I’m hearing is what aches my heart. At least every one of those girls have something to complain about whether it be what their wearing, their hair, their make up, or anything they can think of at the time. Who tells us to think like that? Even adults do it too. Saying what we don’t like in the mirror only cuts down our self-esteem this then can lead to other life threatening things (eating disorders, cutting, etc.) I have written a few things that have helped me over the years as a teenage girl who did struggle with image. Then though, I didn’t realize what God has to say about me is the only thing that matters. Think of the most beautiful flower you’ve ever seen. Now think of God the creator who made that flower, those stars, the sun resting perfectly behind the mountains, the perfect fields that makes you want to run through them barefoot. The God who makes us stand in silence as we look at His creation  created  us (Genesis 1:27). I never did put it this way, but it’s true  when we tell God what we don’t like what we see when we look in the mirror we’re telling Him He had made a mistake. Do you believe He made a mistake when He created you? I sure hope your answer is no. God doesn’t drop the paint brush and never will; He’s perfect and I believe we all forget that sometimes. I have written a few exercises that I know people have used to remind and help themselves that they truly are created in Gods image.

***Before starting these exercises throw away anything that can harm your life (blades, pills, toxins)***

Exercise 1: Write this verse on your mirror or a sticky note by your mirror Psalm 139:13-14 “For you have created me in my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” Make sure its a mirror you use everyday. Let this verse become a prayer between you and God.

Exercise 2: When you look in the mirror pick at least one good thing about yourself. It could be about your appearance or personality. 

Exercise 3: This one is a tricky one because when you’re doing this one your saying your satisfied with what you see. Smile in the mirror even if you don’t want to before you leave. Remember God doesn’t drop the paint brush.