Light in the Darkness//Sarah Mercado

SHINE. I think of that word and am immediately flooded with anxiety. My heart rate increases, my stomach starts turning, and my mind begins to race. Even now as I type this.

This may sound a bit strange to you, but I’d like to be vulnerable and shed some light on this by sharing a bit of my story with you today.

I met Jesus at the tender age of five. One of my earliest memories is praying the prayer of salvation with my mother in our family home. It was a sweet and tender moment that would forever change my life, even if I didn’t fully understand it at the time. The 13 years that followed were extremely dark and tumultuous. They were filled with abuse, neglect, pain, and turmoil. But God was with me through it all.

Amidst all the chaos that was my home life, I learned from a very young age that to be visible meant to literally put myself in harm’s way. So, I made it my mission to be invisible, to blend into the background in any and all situations. This was how I kept myself safe. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I was labelled as shy and quiet. Some even wondered if I was mute at one point (no lie), but it was just a defense mechanism. If I just kept to myself, and stayed quiet, I wouldn’t be noticed and therefore would not be the target of the abuse. Sometimes that worked, and sometimes it didn’t.

Someday I’ll tell the story of how God carried me through that time in my life. It’s an incredible story of God’s faithfulness and goodness. I would not be here today if it hadn’t been for His love and grace in my life.

I carried this mentality with me into adulthood and even though I was no longer in that dangerous situation, I continued to work hard to blend into the background and not draw attention to myself because I still so desperately needed to feel safe. I’ve only really started to unpack and process this in the last couple of years and God has been so gracious to me while I work through this.

I’d love to be able to tell you that tomorrow if someone asks me to do something like be on stage for something or speak in front of people, that I won’t have that immediate moment of panic, but the reality is that the panic still comes. The anxiety is still present. But so is Jesus. And I am learning to lean into Jesus in those moments.

Each time I am presented with an opportunity to do something that may be out of my comfort zone, those alarm bells begin to go off. In my mind and in my body. But it’s in those moments that, in the same gentle way that Jesus spoke to my heart at five years old and drew me to himself, He reminds me, “You’re safe. You don’t have to hide anymore.”, and He reaches out His hand for me to grasp as He lovingly pulls me out of the darkness and into His light. He does this for me again, and again, and again. Always

patient and kind. And by His grace, I am learning to allow myself to be used in ways that I never would have dreamed were possible.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

I recently heard someone speak about this passage of scripture. She pointed out the part about “His power at work within us.”, and said that He works gently, deeply within us, not by force.

Gently, deeply. That is how Jesus is working within me.

It’s time for me to step out of the darkness that I have been hiding in for most of my life and into the light by making myself vulnerable and allowing myself to be visible. Not for my own sake, but to point people to Him and to bring Him glory.

Writing for this blog a few times last year was a great way to dip my toe in, but this year I feel God stirring my heart even more to step out and allow Him to use me in other ways that I have been resistant to in the past. He is helping me to rewrite my story and break the chains that once bound me. Helping me to SHINE for Him like never before.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

Let your light shine. So that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Yes! That is my prayer. For myself, and for each of you.

SHINE!

Mr. Golden Sun // Heather Dillingham

What do you think of when you think of the word ‘SHINE’?

Maybe it’s the two little children in my house but for me, I instantly think of the song Mr. Golden Sun.

You know the one…

“Oh mister sun, sun, mister golden sun, please shine down on me.’

Please don’t hate me. I just didn’t want to be the only one with it stuck in my head.

In the song, the children want to go and play, but they can’t because the sun is hiding. Their happiness rests on the perception of where the sun is.

We know that the sun isn’t actually gone. Things move in its way or the earth rotates to where we can’t see it, but it’s still always there. A constant in the sky.

And maybe the children in the song know that too, but it doesn’t change the outcome. Just like it doesn’t for us.

Bright days make most of us happy, while cloudy days bring an air of gloom. Even though, both days the sun is the same. A constant in the sky.

It’s everything swirling around us or blocking our view that changes how we see it.

The same can be said for The Son. The constant.

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

How many times have we allowed what is swirling around or blocking our view to blind us to the fact that the Son is still in the sky? Still a constant.

Instead, we look up, see the clouds, and rest on the perception that our day, season, or even our entire lives are filled with darkness and all we can do is cry out, “Please shine down on me.”

We forget that the Son isn’t hiding. He's there.

And I’m just as guilty.

This winter has been hard. I have felt more alone than I remember feeling in a long time. I have felt forgotten, lost, confused, taken advantage of, and so tapped out as a mom that I know I haven’t been shining my own light.

Instead of resting on the truth that the Son is there, I have allowed myself to go off perception and believe lies.

“No one likes you.”

“You are only loved if you are useful.”

“Does it all really matter?”

“Do I even matter?”

But it does matter. I matter. YOU MATTER.

The Son is still there! We can’t give up hope just because of the clouds, the season, or the perceptions this world shows us.

‘Mr. Son, Son, Mr. Golden Son,’ will always be shining on us. We are His beloved! So do not be discouraged.

Take heart, and trust in The Son.

______

How have you been viewing The Son this winter? Have you perceived Him as hiding or guiding? I encourage you to pray RIGHT NOW to let God change your heart and clear your eyes to see that The Son is there even through the clouds.

Yet I Will . . . // Chelynn Broughton

I recently heard some of my high school students talking about God also being the Son and the Holy Spirit (the Trinity). One student was asking how it could even be possible, and another was trying his best to explain. (Side note: we were working on a verb tense worksheet, so I’m not sure how this came up…lol) I had to stop myself from jumping in and telling them that they were trying to limit God by looking at Him the same way they would a human, but being a teacher, I had to leave them to discuss on their own. 

This is the moment I realized what I wanted to write about in this blog. The assigned topic was Habakkuk 3:16-19. This wasn’t an easy task. Habakkuk is one of the minor prophets from the Old Testament, and you don’t hear his name anywhere else in the Bible. He isn’t someone you hear many preachers talking about, so I was really struggling until that conversation ignited a spark in me.  

If you’ve been keeping up with the past few weeks’ blog posts, you know that Habakkuk had questioned God about all the bad people in the world and earnestly sought out the answer as to why God hadn’t yet done anything about it. 

God responded in Book 2 that He was bringing the Babylonians to handle it, which frustrated Habakkuk even more because the Babylonians were not good people either. In the 3rd book, Habakkuk finally realizes that he didn’t need to understand God’s ways; he just needed to have faith that God could and would deal out justice when the time was right. 

Habakkuk 3:13 “You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and stripped their bones from head to toe.”

‭If you are a news watcher, you may be feeling like Habakkuk did about all the chaos going on across the world, wondering how God can just ignore all of the evil going on around us. As our next Election Day gets closer, many people are questioning what the future holds. 

I think most of us can relate with Habakkuk, wondering when God is finally going to step up and take control of the chaotic mess we’ve made of the planet that He trusted to us.

This is where that aha moment I had that day in my classroom comes in. We do not have to understand God’s ways, we just have to know that He is able to do more than we can even imagine. 

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I think Habakkuk had that same aha moment and realized that all he could do as he waited for God’s judgment to be dealt out on the evilness of his days, was to praise God and have faith that everything would work out:

16 I heard and my heart pounded,
    my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
    and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
    to come on the nation invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.

I’ve recently attended several funerals for really good people who died way too soon and prayed continuously and earnestly for another amazing woman who just passed away with cancer. I have said more than once, “This just isn’t fair!” 

Maybe you’re going through something extremely difficult right now,  and you’re questioning how God can possibly let it continue to go on. Like Habakkuk, we just need to praise God through our storms and trust that His ways are so much greater than our ways. 

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ 

The final verses of Habakkuk 3 remind me of the song “Praise you in this Storm” by Casting Crowns. As you listen with the attached link, turn your worries over to God and know that He’s in control. https://youtu.be/0YUGwUgBvTU?si=0IBCvK-OG8xzn0hK

Overthinking for Obedience // Sarah Mercado

I’m an overthinker. If overthinking were a sport, I’m pretty sure I would have a few gold medals. Seriously. My mental gymnastics game is Olympic level.

Give me a task, and I will analyze all the possible scenarios and their potential outcomes before I even consider starting the task. I tend to tie myself in knots thinking through things, even staying up late at night to spend even more time thinking about the task at hand, how I will execute it and all the problems I might encounter. It can be exhausting. I may even spend some time coming up with excuses as to why I shouldn’t do it at all or who I might be able to pass it off to. I will most likely procrastinate, and maybe even just try to get out of the whole thing.

When I read the story of Jonah, I see myself in him. He was given a task, he didn’t want to do, so he made up excuses and ran from what God wanted him to do. His reasons may be different than mine, but ultimately, I think Jonah was overthinking his situation.

God told him to go to Nineveh and deliver God’s message to the people there. Jonah immediately started overthinking the situation by inserting his own feelings and opinions into it, rather than just doing what God told him to do. He ended up in a difficult and scary situation, but God in His endless mercy, gave Jonah a second chance. That is where we pick up in Jonah Chapter 3.

God tells Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh and deliver His message to the people. This time Jonah obeyed and went straight to Nineveh. He delivered the message, and the people believed it. The king humbled himself and ordered everyone in the city to turn from their evil ways, stop all their violence and pray earnestly to God, in hopes that God would change His mind and hold back His anger from them.

“When God saw what they had done and how they put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.” Jonah 3:10

Ultimately, God decided not to destroy the city of Nineveh because of their belief in Him and the radical transformation that occurred in the people after they received His message.

This is the part that gets me. The message Jonah delivered to the people of Nineveh;

“Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” Jonah 3:4b

That’s it. The whole message in its entirety.

One sentence. Eight words. And God used it to transform an entire city for His glory.

Often when God asks me to do something, I overthink it, thinking it has to be some big, complicated thing. When all God wants is for me to obedient and trust Him to do the rest. The truth is that most times, what God wants me to do isn’t complicated at all. Much like with Jonah, it’s usually something simple and small that God wants to use to make a big impact. When I choose to obey and trust God instead of overthinking it, God can do some beautiful and amazing things.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take.” Proverbs 3:5-6

This has been one of my favorite verses since I was a child. I often go back to it when I need a reminder of who is in control and that all I need to do is trust in Him instead of my own understanding. When I overthink something that God has told me to do, I am depending on my own understanding. If I can trust Him and seek His will instead if trying to understand everything, He will guide me and He will be able to use me to do far greater things than I can accomplish on my own.

I wonder if there is something God has asked you to do that you are running from or overthinking. If so, I pray that you would be able to EXCHANGE your overthinking for obedience and trust God’s will for your life. This is my prayer for myself as well. That we would be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, and obedient to what God asks us to do, trusting that He is the one in control and that He is able to take our small, imperfect acts of obedience and use them to further His kingdom.

Let’s believe this. And live it out together.

Rescuing Runaways // Mary Swafford

“Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow up Jonah.  And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.”  Jonah 1:17

As we saw in Jonah chapter one, God has asked Jonah to go and do something he clearly does not want to do (preach to the Ninevites their need to clean their rooms and change their ways!).  The prophet of God who has been faithful in previous instances, wants to do anything other than obey God's command to go to the Ninevites.  And so, Jonah runs away.

But God, our God, is a God who goes after him and does not wait for him to be ready for Him! 

Have you ever heard of “hindsight”?  

When I was growing up, my mom was always quoting these cliche sayings that drove me absolutely insane.  Some of them were silly; “If your right hand itches, you’re going to shake hands with a stranger.”, if you got a cold chill, “someone was walking over your grave.”  If she didn’t like the kind of friends I had, she’d say “birds of a feather flock together”.  And my least favorite, when I snuck around and called a boy on the phone (a boy I had been dating for a year mind you) she would say, “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free!” There’s nothing like being called a cow by your own mom, but that's a whole other blog for another day…

She would also say, “hindsight is 20/20”.  I never understood that phrase when I was growing up.   But now I love the gift of hindsight and I cherish the times when God reveals himself to me.

Webster’s Dictionary defines hindsight as “understanding of a situation or event only after it has happened or developed.”

You see, in the middle of our rebellion or in the middle of our need to control the outcome, we’re unable to see God at work.  We are so short sighted that we can only see what we want and what we’re focused on.  It’s kind of like not being able to see the forest for the trees.  (Wink wink).  But God sees the whole picture from the end to the beginning and he orchestrates divine encounters all along the way.

God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah at just the moment in time when Jonah had been thrown overboard and was sinking into the depths of the sea.  I imagine that he was at the point of no longer being able to hold his breath.  The pressure of the waters weighing on his body.  No longer able to hear anything other than the beating of his own heart.  Blinded by the darkness in the deep.  Jonah relinquishes control, his body no longer fighting, he surrenders and that’s the moment that it happens.  That’s when the fish swallows him.  Breath returns to his lungs, filling them at full capacity.  He’s surrounded by the safety and warmth of the fish’s belly and in the darkness inside is where Jonah has clear sight.  He can see the hand of God guiding him and leading him in the purpose and path God created for him.  

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.  He said, I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me.  I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!  You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.  The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.  Then I said, O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.  Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.”  Jonah 2:1-4

Here inside the fish, Jonah cries out to God.  Jonah has reached his point of desperate need and recognizes that only God can rescue him. Jonah is in full submission to God’s will for his life and not his own. 

This is true for you and I too.  We are all broken on our own, in our rebellion, yet God still rescues us.  He still forgives, redeems and loves any one who will turn to Him.  

“Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.”  Jonah 2:10

In his disobedience to God, Jonah experiences forgiveness when God rescued him from the fish.  At that point, Jonah has not proven himself worthy or committed or even changed.  All he had done was surrender and recognize his need for a savior.

And God, met him where he was at in the middle of his need and forgave Jonah and redeemed him. 

Jonah chapter 2 describes a man who is running from God, and a God that pursues him.  This chapter and all of scripture, shows us that God doesn’t despise the runaways, he rescues them.

Will you EXCHANGE your will for his and let him rescue you too?  

Delayed Obedience Is Disobedience // Mary Swafford

Have you ever tried to run away from God?  David talks about this in Psalm 139;

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.  You know when I sit down or stand up.  You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.  You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.  You know everything I do.   You know what I’m going to say even before I say it, Lord.” Psalm 139:1-4

Is it possible to get away from God?  Can you move yourself far enough away that He can’t reach you?

When I was a kid, I used to get so mad when my parents would tell me to clean my room.  Usually it was because I already knew what state my room was in.  I already knew it needed to be cleaned, but I didn’t like them telling me to do it.

Similarly, in the first chapter, in the book of Jonah;

“The Word came to Jonah and told him to get up, go to Ninevah, that great big city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

In other words, it’s filthy in Ninevah and it needs to be cleaned up.  It’s been a mess for too long. 

And just like little Mary, Jonah didn’t want to be told it was his responsibility to clean the rooms of Ninevah.

“But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.  He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish.  So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”  Jonah 1:3

Little Mary couldn’t run away and charter a boat to get away from my parents authority or commands (actually I tried that once.  I stayed out all night instead of going home.  Dad called the police and reported my car stolen.  That was a long, bad night), but I could and did drag my feet, do other things, wait until the middle of the night and put it off as long as possible.

“I can never escape from your Spirit!  I can never get away from your presence!  If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.  If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”  

Psalm 139:7-10

God called Jonah to go to Ninevah, which is east of Israel, but Jonah is sailing to Tarshish in the far west.  Jonah went in the direction furthest from where God wanted him to be.

“But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart.”  Jonah 1:4

I was being disobedient to my parents by not cleaning my room when my parents asked (or coming home after prom my senior year).  Jonah was being disobedient to God by running away and not going to Ninevah.

The consequences of my disobedience caused me to be grounded and lose privileges for a long time.  It also caused my parents to lose trust in me.  The consequences of Jonah’s disobedience caused the entire crew of the ship to be put at risk of losing their lives.  It also caused them to throw Jonah into the sea in hopes of saving themselves.

But God. 

But God calmed the storm.  But God used His miraculous display of power to be his witness to the sailors who were in awe of him.  But God arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah and save his life.  But God used Jonah’s disobedience to bring salvation, to the sailors who witnessed God’s power firsthand and to the Ninevites through Jonah’s eventual obedience.

The Enemy wants our disobedience and he uses it for destruction.  Thank you Jesus that what the Enemy wants to use to harm us, God uses to bring glory and honor to him!

What has God called you to do in your life that you are putting off, running away from, dragging your feet on?  What does he want you to EXCHANGE that will bring glory and honor to him and perhaps salvation to others?

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  Psalm 139:23-24

Don’t delay.  Surrender your will to the Lord today.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience.  God can and will use your long, bad night or three days in the belly of a fish to bring salvation to others.  Hallelujah!

We Aren’t Called To Be Ordinary // Heather Dillingham

Let’s play a game. I want you all to give yourself a work review right now. Yes, like those uncomfortable, once-a-year reviews that nobody likes.

If you stay at home, imagine this review is going to your spouse or your children instead of a boss. Ready? Let’s go.

Q. How would you rate your attitude at work?

Q. Would you consider yourself an ordinary worker? What sets you apart?

Q. What do you hope to get out of this job?

Three questions, that wasn’t so bad right? But those three questions can bring up some very real observations. Let me show you…

My Answers:

1. Ooff, can I plead the fifth? To be honest my attitude has been not great as of late. I easily lose patience with myself and others and have been finding it hard not to disassociate. 

2. Yes, while I would love to say that I am extraordinary, currently I’m not. I do a really good job of teaching my children and creating things for them, but I struggle with play and connection with them and my spouse.

3. I’m not sure, but hopefully functioning humans. 

Why the review?  Because what we do at work matters. Oftentimes those that we work with see more of us than our family. They can be the easiest ones to lead to Christ or away based on our attitude and how we present ourselves. Because of this, we need to work with a purpose. We need to work knowing we are called to be more than ordinary.

In Daniel 6:4 we see that Daniel gave a great example of this; 

“At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent.”

When the administrators and satraps of Babylon tried to find corruption or negligence in his work, they couldn’t. You have to assume by the text that the faults they were trying to find were normal, maybe even faults they had themselves. 

But Daniel, because of God’s work in him, wasn’t normal. 

His review would look something like this…

Q. How would you rate your attitude at work?

1. My attitude is great. I am kind, wise, and show discernment.

Q. Would you consider yourself an ordinary worker? What sets you apart?

2. Yes (I feel like he would be humble here), I am ordinary in the fact that my goal is to serve and serve well. I am set apart only by what God has given me. 

Q. What do you hope to get out of this job?

3. My goal is to glorify the Lord.

So the last question is, are you choosing to be ordinary at work, hiding your faith or giving into the stress to be less than what God asks? Or, are you choosing to lean into God’s abundance even if it sets you apart or makes you a target for those who don’t understand?

Take time this week, even now, to write out your answers.

God, I pray for each woman reading this. That we first and foremost understand how important we are in the work you have given us. God that you guide our hands and give us strength especially when we feel on the edge of failure. God I thank you that you can and always will provide the encouragement, strength, and wisdom we need. Lead us to be more than ordinary. Lead us to be like you. In Jesus name, Amen!

Sarai for Sarah // Mary Swafford

What’s in a name?

When I was young, I had a terrible time naming things.  I had a teddy bear named Teddy.  I had a baby doll named Dolly.  I once had a cat named Kitty.  It’s a wonder that my firstborn didn’t come home with the name Baby Boy!

Names are an incredibly important part of our identity. They carry deep personal, cultural and historical connections. They also give us a sense of who we are, the communities in which we belong, and our place in the world.

Naming demonstrates authority. When God created man, he gave him the name Adam, and one of the first jobs he gave Adam was to give names to everything put under his care.

While naming is tied to authority in the scriptures, it also reveals intimacy.  It allows for a person to know and be known by others.

I wasn’t given a name at birth.  Instead, I was given up.  I didn’t belong to anyone.  No one was there to claim me.  For the weeks and months I spent in the hospital awaiting adoption, the nurses finally named me Sara.  I guess it was an easier way to identify me than “baby girl with red hair”.  When you name someone, it shows there is intimate knowledge — a relationship.

I was renamed Mary once I was adopted.  Mary Elizabeth to be exact.  My older brother would say I was named after baby Jesus’ mother, but the truth is I was named after my father’s mother, who he never knew himself.  Interesting to think that I was once nameless and yet named after someone no one even knew.

The name Mary actually means; bitter, beloved, rebellious, and wished-for child.  I know I have been one or more of those things at some time or another in my life.  But more important than what the dictionary says about my name, is that my naming marked the start of a new beginning in my life.  A new path.  A new journey.

We see this many times in Scripture. The Bible records many accounts of God assigning new names upon believers when they underwent life-changing spiritual transformations. Just like He did for Abraham and Sarah. When God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, it marked a new beginning in his life — a spiritual advancement, a growing faith.

As further affirmation of His promise to Abraham, God also changed the name of Abraham’s wife from Sarai, which means quarrelsome, to Sarah, meaning princess. 

“Then God said to Abraham, Regarding Sarai, your wife - her name will no longer be Sarai.  From now on her name will be Sarah.  And I will bless her and give you a son from her!  Yes I will bless her richly, and she will become the mother of many nations.  Kings of nations will be among her descendants.” 
Genesis 17:15-16 

The new names that God gave to Abraham and Sarah did not in itself change them. Rather, it reflected the change God was performing in them. It marked the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new life. Consider that Abraham was 99 years old when God gave him a new name, and Sarah was 90. If anyone’s life demonstrates that it’s never too late to change, it is the life of Abraham or Sarah.

As my husband often tells our house church, “if you’re not dead, God’s not done!”  And when God’s not done with you, He gives you a new name and a new purpose.

The name given by God is the name that will lead us to God's promises. God changed Abram's name to Abraham, Sarai's to Sarah, Jacob's to Israel, and Simon's to Peter. Through those names God gave new beginnings, new hopes, new blessings.  Much like when I received my new name after being adopted by my parents.

Each of the new names God has given, marked new beginnings and profound changes of character in the lives of the individuals who received them. Likewise, we experienced a transformational shift in our lives when we surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. Although our names might not have been legally changed, Jesus dramatically redefined our lives when we chose to follow Him — and we are not the same people we used to be!

Consider these phrases pulled right from the pages of the Bible: Fearfully and wonderfully made, seen, known, loved, children of God, adopted, not forgotten, filled with the Spirit, full of Christ, united with Christ, chosen, accepted, loved, forgiven, not forsaken, reconciled, free from condemnation, a new creation, complete in Christ, holy, blameless, without a single fault, secure, heirs, free, no longer slaves, transformed, renewed, God’s special possession, salt, light, not your own, bought with a price, created in the image of God, raised with Christ, dead to sin, alive to God, part of the body, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, the bride of Christ, renamed.

Jesus gave up His name and identity for me. He became like me so that I might become like Him. When I think of this, I am reminded that there is no need for me to try to carve out a name for myself. Any identity I create for myself won’t last, only the identity God gives me will last into eternity.

“On that day I will gather you together and bring you home again. I will give you a good name, a name of distinction, among all the nations of the earth, as I restore your fortunes before their very eyes. I, the Lord, have spoken!” 
Zephaniah 3:20

God sees me, He knows me. He knows who I am and who I am meant to be — and that will be the basis for my new name that only He can give.  And for this, I will gladly “exchange” my name and my plans to be given a name He gives and the new purpose He has laid out for me in Jesus’ holy name!

Mary Swafford is the founder of Shaken & Stirred, Meals that Matter, Coffee Talk, and a Co-Owner of Boulder Coffee in downtown Sand Springs. She is a wife, a mother of 3 beautiful children, but most importantly a daughter of the most high God. You are likely to find her chugging or serving coffee, sitting in a tattooist’s chair, or making friends out of strangers.

Photo by Jared Subia on Unsplash

Shaken & Stirred: An Adoption Story

I was born somewhere in the state of Mississippi in May of 1975. I was 5 lbs. and 5 oz. with red hair and the nurses called me Sara. The end. This is all I know of my birth and the beginnings of my life.

Sometime later, I don’t know if it was weeks or months, I was adopted by a couple that had a 3 year old boy. The boy that became my brother had been adopted as an infant, just like me, and was not related to me or my parents by blood.

When I was little, I didn’t understand adoption. I didn’t understand why the woman who carried me in her belly didn’t want me. My mom made me read a book about adoption and how, according to the book, I was special because my mom and dad got to pick me. It made it seem as if everyone else born into a family is just the luck of the draw, but somehow adoption was supposed to make me special. Instead of feeling special, I felt ugly and unwanted. I didn’t have a good relationship with my mom. I felt like I could never please her or measure up to what she thought I was supposed to be.

…

Jeremiah 1:5 says:

“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work.”

When I became pregnant with my first child, I was in awe of how God created us to carry and sustain life inside of us. I found myself thinking more and more about the woman that carried me in her belly. I wasn’t thinking about how she didn’t want me anymore. Instead I was thinking about how very much she must have loved me. She carried me in her growing belly, feeling all of my kicks and nudges. In fact, I began to believe that she loved me so much that she chose to go through all of that, so that I could have life! There is no greater unconditional, sacrificial love.

Here’s the kicker though…I also know a Father. A Father that had a son. He gave that son up too. Not because He didn’t love his son, but because He loved me and He loved you, so very much that He wanted to give us life! He chose to go through death on a cross so that we could have life eternal with Him. There is no greater unconditional, sacrificial love.

God is that Father and that day on the alter when I was 8 years old, He adopted me into His family. Not because I had pleased Him or was anywhere near what He created me to be, but because He made me and chose me for a special purpose. He shook me that day and He shakes me still.

The blood of Jesus makes it possible for you to be adopted into God’s family. In fact, adoption through Jesus is the only way into His family. Turns out, my mom was right. Adoption does make me special.

Being shaken by God is the beginning of my life story and I’m constantly stirred to seek Him more. To know Him more. To love Him more. Shaken & Stirred is my adoption story.

I pray that it will be yours as well.

Mary Swafford is the founder of Shaken & Stirred, Meals that Matter, Coffee Talk, and a Co-Owner of Boulder Coffee in downtown Sand Springs. She is a wife, a mother of 3 beautiful children, but most importantly a daughter of the most high God. You are likely to find her chugging or serving coffee, sitting in a tattooist’s chair, or making friends out of strangers.