:::The New Normal:::

What if talking about Jesus to every person you met became the "new normal."

What if.

I was driving back from Atlanta last night and had 3 hours in the car to think about this concept. I pulled over to get something to eat real quick and as I heard a young guy's voice come over the speaker, welcoming me to the fast food restaurant and asking me what I'd like to order, I felt a nudge in my Spirit say "Ask him if he knows Jesus."

My initial response, of course, was "HEYALLLL NO." hahaha.

Then I immediately came up with a list of excuses for God to let him know that my bringing up this topic, was probably not one of His best ideas.

"Well God, I dunno if you knew this but this guy is most likely at the first window, just waiting to take my money to pay for food. God I'm NEVER at that window for too long and I don't want to hold up traffic behind me just because I wanna bring up a convo about Jesus... that's rude to hold up traffic, God."

"What if he's crazy? It's late at night in the middle of a podunk town in Alabama, what if he gets mad, pulls out a gun and shoots me?"

"What if he's already a Christian? Then he'll think I'm just a Bible-thumping, "super good" Christian who's super legalistic and trying to make myself look good."

"What if his mom cheated on his dad... with a PASTOR? Then I'm most likely bringing up a very sensitive subject God, I don't want to ruin his night."

"What if he used to be a Christian, then got hurt by somebody in the church? Again... sensitive subject, God..."

My list was very long. And I could tell God wasn't impressed with my excuses, because the Holy Spirit kept nudging my heart... and ended up backing the traffic line up so bad that I literally ended up sitting at the first "money window" - a window that usually takes 2 seconds to go through - for about 5 - 7 minutes. Jesus is funny.

Looking back on the situation, I can't help but KNOW deep down in my heart that the only thing truly stopping me from sharing my faith, asking him a simple question, bringing up JESUS, was FEAR.

Fear of rejection, fear of humiliation, fear of being hated, fear of man.

I had a very similar Spirit nudge back in 2008, right before I left for YWAM, that I failed miserably. A very clear, distinct, "ask him if he knows Me" command that I ignored, again, for fear.

Satan LOVES fear. Fear keeps us trapped. Fear keeps us from dreaming. Fear keeps us frozen, unable to move or react. Fear keeps us.

How silly is that? God says that perfect love casts out all fear.... and God loves us with a PERFECT love, so why do we, as God's children, beloved, set aside, called by name, choose to take up residence in our little homes of fear?

What if the "new normal" consisted of God's people, throwing aside our fears, believing with our WHOLE HEARTS that God is who He said He is, and bringing up Jesus in our conversations like He's the most important thing in the world to us... and to everyone else?

You, I, have one life to live. I have ONE SHOT at this life and then I spend eternity with God. I want my heart to be so fully free. I don't want to live this life in chains.

I don't want my heart to be so ruled by fear, that when God tells me to bring up Jesus to a man at a drive-thru window that I KNOW I will probably NEVER see again in my life, I come up with a million excuses.

I was at David Platt's church last week and he said something that really RADICALLY (pun intended) changed my heart and mindset.

He said that perhaps we've heard the phrase "Always preach the gospel; if necessary use words."

After he said that phrase I was all nodding in agreement, like "yeah that's right! SO true!"

As I was nodding vigorously, he said "Well you guys, I'll be honest, as nice as that sounds, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

You can imagine my reaction..... I was kinda like you are, now........ WHAAAT?

He explained how Jesus, in the Bible, says PREACH the good news. He doesn't say "smile" the good news. He doesn't say "hug" the good news. He says PREACH. Meaning, SPEAK. Meaning, USE WORDS.

Yes, your actions must line up with your words, David Platt did encourage that highly, but so many times Christians (and I included in that) hide behind this pretty little phase, allowing that to be our excuse from brining up Jesus in a conversation.

I was pretty changed to be honest. David Platt has that radical affect on people, I suppose.

It caused me to evaluate my life in a way I hadn't in a long time.

My thought process is, "Well I'll just be really nice, not cuss, listen to Christian music, and if the OTHER person asks me about God, then I'll bring out all the Bible knowledge I know!!"

God did not give us a spirit of timidity. And that's what I am living in every time I use that excuse, timidity. Fear.

YES it does say "Let your light so shine before men...." and I LOVE that... but Jesus was the light of the world, and He didn't just come to this earth to be a nice person - to love on people, laugh, hug, smile, encourage.

No - Jesus was radical. He SPOKE. He used the power of His words - and it was His WORDS that changed the course of history forever. It was His WORDS that casted demons out of people. It was His WORDS (and, in some cases, touch) that healed the lame and the blind. It was His WORDS that caused Lazarus to rise from the dead.

This needs to be the new normal. It's not getting easier to be a Christian. And I feel that even in my personal walk with Christ - it's never been harder for me to pursue Christ and love Him with my whole heart. The spiritual climate is changing, I suppose. But in the midst of that, in the midst of our darkness, we have to let our light shine brighter than ever!

Lisa Bevere, a Christian Author and Speaker from my church in Colorado Springs, wrote a tweet once that I LOVED and essentially sums up this blog.

"The Fear-of-the-Lord swallows up the fear of man!

Allow the opinion of God to trump the opinions of people!"

(via @LisaBevere on 08 Aug 2010)

I LOVE THAT!! So powerful, so true. I need the Opinion of God to trump the opinion of people. I need to live my life in this "new normal." It's time for His bride to acknowledge Him fully!!!

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God that brings Salvation to everyone who believes!" ~ Romans 1:16

:::Freedom isn't Free:::

Earlier this week, Bill's flight had the privilege of hearing a man speak. I thought it would be another "boring lecture" that Bill had already had enough of, but when he came home from lunch, he had a completely different demeanor about him.

He was in shock, sort of in awe actually, and when he told me why, tears filled my eyes.

This man was a Fighter Pilot during Vietnam. During a battle, his plane was shot down and he was captured. He immediately became a Prisoner of War in Vietnam... for 6 years.

Stop right there. Imagine that... you have one life to live, and to spend 6 years of it in complete fear, not knowing which moment will be your last. Locked up in a TINY, cold, hard cell with boarded up windows and no sunlight for 23 hours and 45 minutes every day - only 15 minutes of "freedom" every day.

Having one light bulb shine down on you that never once got turned off, day or not.

To get beaten and tortured regularly. To be given one bar of soap every two months - living in filth. To have ZERO outside communication with family or loved ones. To wake up thinking, "I might die today."

Forget about comfort, forget about delicious food, or yummy coffee... forget about relationships. I can't even imagine that - to live in COMPLETE FEAR for 6 years.... that's unbelievable

Needless to say, I've never understood as much as I do now the sacrifice that men and women are making EVERY DAY. Now that my husband is truly in the military (by truly I mean out in the "real world," not living in the Academy bubble) we've gotten to meet some awesome people and hear some amazing stories.

I guess for those of you who aren't at all related or don't have any loved ones in the military, this day might come and go and not phase you at all.

I WAS you, before I met Bill - I didn't know ANYONE who served, nobody in my family really had, we were from El Salvador so we didn't really have the "Hoo Rah American Pride" thing going on.

Every year, the only special or important thing that came with veterans day was that our school would give an assembly and we'd have shorter classes that day!! Woo hoo!!

Now, I see things completely differently. The military isn't this far off, distant mysterious thing that I associate with the colors red, white, and blue.

Suddenly, the military is my LIFE.

Here I am, all of the sudden, having to incorporate a blue uniform into my wedding color scheme, learn about rank, iron my husbands uniforms, try remember five MILLION silly acronyms, show my military ID to some random guard at a gate every time I want to come home.

I went from a life of not caring about our military at all - to a life that is literally somewhat controlled by it.

And lets just say... I'M SO GLAD I DID.

Not necessarily the controlled part, but the AWARENESS part.

If you're one of those people I mentioned earlier with no military ties, PLEASE don't live the rest of your life letting it not be important to you.

I was you before, and living your life without that appreciation or PERSPECTIVE is truly no life at all.

Never before have I realized the SACRIFICE men and women have made over the years, even before I was born.

Husbands, wives, daughters, sons, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters who have served in the military have willingly GIVEN THEIR LIVES to preserve our precious freedom.

It's not about a pretty song, it's not about red, white, and blue everywhere.

These are people's LIVES, in many cases cut short, so that you and I can sip our Starbucks in our nice cars and houses, and worry about what cute fashionable thing we're going to wear that day.

I'm sure you've probably heard a similar analogy like that before - BUT PEOPLE PLEASE GET THIS!!

It's all about perspective.

It's all about the son who just left home for the first time and goes for weeks without communicating with his family because he's in an intense boot camp.

It's all about the dad who can't be at the birth of his first born child because he got deployed two weeks before.

It's all about the wife who's left at home while her husband is gone for months or years at a time, being the one to fill that "fatherly, protective" role for her children.

It's all about the children who run away in fear because they don't remember the face of the man in a uniform who's SO excited to see them!

It's all about the man who's own children run away from him because they don't recognize him since he's been gone for so long.

It's all about the wife who's handed a folded up flag because her husband gave his life to save the lives of others.

It's all about the mother or father who dread "the phone call" while their son or daughter is away serving overseas.

It's all about the spouse who has to relocate their family every few years because of the sacrifice and choice they've made.

It's all about the middle-school kids who have to leave their family and friends, again, because of the decision their parents made.

It's all about the man who not only has to deal with the trauma of knowing his fighter plane is about to crash, but once he safely evacuates the place, is captured and spends 6 years of his life in hell.

When that man was finally returned to the United States, he was sent to Travis AFB in California and spent two months in the hospital in order to help him heal and get rid of whatever parasites or germs he caught so he could be released safely back into the public.

The Air Force gave him two weeks off, which makes me laugh to be honest, and they paid for his plane ticket back home to his family.

Best part of the story.... the flight stewardess he met on the plane that day, became his wife :)

Talk about a crazy first date experience... "So, tell me about yourself..." haha insane!!

In spite of his terrible circumstances, that man says that he thanks God EVERY DAY for that experience - it's changed him to say the very least.

He knows he wouldn't have met his wife and had his children without those circumstances.

And he says he no longer worries at all about things that can be fixed with money.

Every day is literally a GIFT for him, he knows we're not guaranteed tomorrow so he's not going to worry about tomorrow.

That's amazing.

Knowing that people give their lives so you can live the way you do should strive you to live a FULL, RICH, WONDERFUL life filled with integrity.

Knowing that people you've never met die this week for freedom should leave you with an incredibly grateful heart.

After Bill told this story, I got tears in my eyes and went and sat on his lap while he held me... (I love my husband:) Then, he explained to me what the Code of Conduct for the Armed Forces is. Essentially, this is the way members of the Armed Forces are supposed to behave. I want to share this with you, because it really spoke to me, especially in light of hearing about the story of the the POW.

Article 1

- I am an American fighting in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

Article II

- I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have means to resist.

Article III

- If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make all efforts to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

Article IV

- If I become prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am a senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and back them up in every way.

Article V

- When questioned, should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies or harmful to their cause.

Article VI

- I will never forget that I am an American, fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

Don't let it come and go, don't let it be nothing to you.

Now, I just want to say a few thank yous!

Thank you to Bill's amazing sponsor dad, Chief Master Sgt Cal Jones. Thank you for imparting ALL your wisdom on Bill and I as we sit and sip sweet tea in your beautiful Adobe-style house :) We're so grateful for you and Miss Kathy!!!

To our MANY, MANY friends who are serving from the Academy, ROTC, and Enlisted - Thank you for serving, even when serving right now looks being the head of Services at Travis AFB like Sean Malanowski, or if serving looks like sitting in a dumb, pointless lecture at ASBC that you've heard a million times before. :)

Thank you to our friends, Nate Hawkins, Steve Bealieu, Chad Vandorhorst, Anthony Ferrera, Danny Velo, Kevin Mauer, and the MANY, MANY others who are working 12 hour days in Pilot Training so you can be the best pilots in the Air Force, knowing that times you'll put yourselves in harms way to serve our country. THANK YOU, I'm so grateful for all of you!

Thank you to the military wives I've met, at Maxwell and wherever else, who's husbands have been in the military for a LONG time, who have left their friends and family and moved houses 12 times in the past 15 years, who are STRONG, and BOLD, and encourage me to live a life that supports and honors my husband.

You ladies inspire me and help me to remember that I CAN DO THIS, even when I know there are so many unknown obstacles I will face.

Thank you to the wives I've met who's husbands have been in the military for a short time, especially Taryn Hawkins, for your friendship and for helping me with my MANY, many questions, and especially for opening your home to us :)

And finally, THANK YOU TO MY INCREDIBLE HUSBAND.

2 Lt. Bill Stainback, I love you so much.

Yes I'm nervous about what's to come... but a life full of unknowns in the military is SO much better than a life without you at all.

Thank you for your sacrifice... for moving far away from your family to Colorado Springs. Thank you for every homework assignment, every parade, every time you sat CQ, every effort you put to work hard to graduate from the Air Force Academy, to provide a great future for your family and for me. Thank you for your character, integrity, and for everything that makes you an incredible man. Thank you for your bravery, for always saying you put me before your career, and for welcoming me with open arms into your life. Thank you for loving me and for being the leader in our relationship in every way. I trust you, I love you. You're my favorite airmen and I'm going to support and love you every step of the way, forever, for better or worse. I'm so grateful for you. Thank you baby, I appreciate you so much. I LOVE YOU!!

"We're the land of the free... because of the brave."